as  an 


o 

UJ 


Thomas  Jefferson 

AS  AN  ARCHITECT  AND  A  DESIGNER 
OF  LANDSCAPES 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON 

As  an  Architect  and  a 
Designer  of  Landscapes 

BY 
WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  LAMBETH,  M.D. 

AND 
WARREN  H.   MANNING 


BOSTON   AND  NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

MDCCCCXIII 


COPYRIGHT,    1913,   BY   HOUGHTON    MIFFLIN   COMPANY 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


FIVE  HUNDRED  THIRTY-FIVE  NUMBERED  COPIES  PRINTED 
AT  THE  •'RYVERSFDE;  F,R'£SG  -CAMBRIDGE  MASSACHUSETTS 

;  .;  .",  .'.-     NO. 


CONTENTS 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  AS  AN  ARCHITECT         ...          i 
By  William  Alexander  Lambeth,  M.D. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  AS  A  DESIGNER  OF  LANDSCAPES       97 
By  Warren  H.  Manning 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

University  of  Virginia,  Charlottesville,  and  Monticello, 

from  Lewis  Mountain  in  1 856  (Photogravure)  Frontispiece 

Reproduction  of  Bohn's  engraving  loaned  by  James  H,  Corbitt, 
Suffolk,  Va.,  showing  the  laboratories  north  (to  the  left)  of  the 
Rotunda  that  were  not  a  part  of  Jefferson's  design.  These  were 
fortunately  destroyed  by  fire  in  1895  and  omitted  in  the  recon 
struction  in  1898. 

Thomas  Jefferson  (Photogravure) 2 

From  an  old  copy  of  the  original  crayon  portrait  by  St. 
Memin.  Autograph  from  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Monticello  :  View  from  Entrance  Lawn  having  the  Ap 
pearance  of  a  One-story  Building  ....  7 

Monticello :  View  from  Living  Lawn,  no  visible  out 
buildings,  —  no  kitchen.  Arrangement  of  window 
and  doors  so  as  to  appear  one-storied  .  .  .13 

Monticello  :  Main  Hall ;  stairway  hidden,  —  nothing  to 

suggest  chambers  above 19 

Monticello  :  One  of  the  hidden  stairways         .        .        .23 

Monticello  :  Reception  Hall  connecting  with  Main  Hall, 
and  having  also  an  entrance  through  the  South  Por 
tico.  Floor  of  walnut,  beech,  and  wild  cherry  .  .27 

Farmington  :  Jefferson's  portico,  and  octagonal  addition 
to  the  front  of  an  old  square  Virginia  farm  dwelling  33 

C  vii  ] 


Illustrations 

University  of  Virginia:  Jefferson's  Palladian  Doric  on 
Tuscan.  The  first  building  constructed.  Now  occu 
pied  by  the  Faculty  Club  (Pavilion  VIII)  .  .  39 

University  of  Virginia:  Rotunda  as  it  stands  to-day, 
North  view 45 

University  of  Virginia  :  Jefferson's  Temple  of  Fortuna 
Virilis  as  it  rises  above  the  Rotunda  Terraces  (Pa 
vilion  II ) 51 

Monticello  :  One  of  the  cornices,  constructed  of  wood, 

metal,  and  composition 57 

University  of  Virginia  :  Detail  of  cornice  soffit  in  Jeffer 
son's  Theatre  of  Marcellus  (Pavilion  X)  .  .  -57 

University  of  Virginia  :  Jefferson's  Doric  of  the  Theatre 
of  Marcellus  ( Pavilion  X ) 63 

University  of  Virginia :  Jefferson's  Doric  of  Albano ; 

Present  Administration  Building  (Pavilion  IV).        .     69 

Monticello :  Dining-room  showing  adjoining  Tea  Room     75 
Monticello:  The  Dining-room Si 

Monticello:  Dining-room  mantel  showing  concealed 
dumb-waiter  for  wine  connected  with  the  base 
ment  85 

Monticello  :  Wedge  wood  insets  in  dining-room  mantel     9 1 

[  viii  ] 


Illustrations 

Monticello :  East  elevation  showing  roof  of  underground 

passage  (at  left)  leading  to  servants'  quarters  .        .101 

Monticello :   Tunnel  connecting  the   basement  of  the 

main  building  with  servants'  quarters        .        .        .107 

Monticello :  Entrance  to  Main  Hall  from  North  Portico    1 1 1 


PLATES 

Plan  of  Bremo I 

Principal  Floor  Plan  of  Monticello II 

Part  of  a  Letter  from  Jefferson  to  President  of  Literary 

Fund Ill 

First  Lay-out  of  the  University  Group    ....      IV 

Elevation  of  the  First  Story  of  the  First  Pavilion  and 

the  Plan  of  the  First  Pavilion V 

A  Page  of  Jefferson's    Pocket   Notebook    containing 

Notes  for  his  First  Pavilion VI 

A  Page  from  Jefferson's  Pocket  Notebook  showing  his 
Plan  for  adapting  the  Ceiling  of  his  Rotunda  to  the 
Purpose  of  teaching  Astronomy  ....  VII 

First  Plan  of  the  double  Ranges  of  Buildings         .        .  VIII 

The  same  as  Plate  VIII  with  the  Piece  of  Paper  laid 

in  place  containing  the  Revision         ....      IX 


Illustrations 

One  of  Jefferson's  Detail  Drawings  for  the  Railing 

above  his  Tuscan  Arcade X 

Jefferson's  Specifications  for  marble  Capitals      .       .  XI 

Jefferson's  Specifications  for  another  Capital       .        .  XII 

First  Page  of  Jefferson's  Pocket  Notebook  for  July 

18,  1817 XIII 

Part  of  Specification  for  Rotunda XIV 

Section  of  Library  or  Rotunda XV 

Plan  of  First  and  Second  Floor  of  Library  or  Rotunda  XVI 

Elevation  of  Library  or  Rotunda XVII 

Specification  for  the  domed  Roof  of  the  Rotunda       .  XVIII 

Specification  for  Pavilion  X XIX 

One  of  Jefferson's  Plans  for  an  Observatory       .        .  XX 

Jefferson's  Sketch  for  a  Bell XXI 

University  of  Virginia :  Plan  of  existing  Conditions  .  XXII 

University  of  Virginia  :  Study  for  Development        .  XXIII 


Thomas  Jefferson  as  an  Architect 


BY 


WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  LAMBETH,  M.D.,  PH.D. 

Professor  of  Hygiene  and  Superintendent  of  Buildings  and  Grounds, 
University  of  Virginia 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON 

As  an  Architect 

THE  revival  of  interest  in  Thomas  Jefferson's  versatility  has 
stimulated  anew  a  study  of  his  work  as  an  architect.  This 
study  has  been  accompanied  by  an  increased  appreciation 
of  his  very  successful  architectural  achievements,  and,  as 
was  natural,  when  one  is  told  that  a  man  without  special  train 
ing  did  accomplish  so  well  what  others  with  ample  training 
so  often  have  failed  to  accomplish,  wonder  and  amazement 
have  occasionally  grown  into  skepticism. 

During  Jefferson's  lifetime,  and  for  a  half-century  there 
after,  no  question  was  raised  as  to  who  was  the  architect  of 
Virginia's  great  seat  of  learning.  Many  were  then  living 
who  had  watched  these  buildings  take  their  form  under  his 
hand.  Many  were  then  living  whose  own  colonial  homes 
were  the  offspring  of  his  genius. 

Aside  from  the  successful  character  of  the  work  itself,  the 
only  particular  ground  for  doubting  that  Jefferson  was  the 
architect  is  based  upon  certain  passages  in  his  letters  asking 
assistance  in  his  undertaking. 

On  May  9,  1817,  Jefferson  wrote  a  letter  to  Dr.  William 
Thornton,  from  which  is  taken  the  following  oft-quoted 

c  3  n 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

passage,  "We  are  commencing  here  the  establishment  of 
a  college ;  will  you  set  your  imagination  to  work  and  sketch 
some  designs  for  us?" 

Unquestionably,  Jefferson  sought  aid  from  Thornton,  for 
a  copy  of  the  original  letter  from  which  this  passage  is  taken 
is  now  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  University.  Not  only 
did  he  seek  help  from  Thornton,  but  doubtless  from  many 
others  among  his  extensive  list  of  able  acquaintances. 
While  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  Thornton  complied 
with  Jefferson's  request,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  he  did. 

If  we,  however,  read  the  entire  letter  from  which  the  ex 
tract  is  made,  and  understand  the  character  of  the  aid  sought, 
we  can  with  some  assurance  decide  upon  the  extent  and 
nature  of  the  help,  if  any,  that  was  probably  rendered.  Here 
is  the  text  in  full :  — 

MONTICELLO,  May  9,   17. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  favor  of  April  18th  was  duly  received,  and  the  two  draw 
ings  were  delivered  by  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Madison  in  perfectly  good  order. 
With  respect  to  Carrachi's  bust,  any  artist  whom  you  may  dispose 
to  do  so  shall  be  welcome  to  come  and  make  a  cast  of  plaister 
from  it,  we  have  always  plaister  at  hand. 

We  are  commencing  here  the  establishment  of  a  College  and  in 
stead  of  building  a  magnificent  house  which  would  exhaust  all  our 
funds,  we  propose  to  lay  off  a  square  of  7.  or  800  ft.  on  the  outside 
of  which  we  shall  arrange  separate  pavilions,  one  for  each  professor 
and  his  scholars.  Each  pavilion  will  have  a  school  room  below  and 

[4   1 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

two  rooms  for  the  professor  above,  and  between  pavilion  and  pavil 
ion  a  range  of  dormitories  for  the  boys,  one  story  high  giving  to 
each  a  room  10  ft.  wide  and  14  ft.  deep.  The  pavilions  about  36 
ft.  wide  in  front  and  26  ft.  in  depth. 

[Here  follows  sketch] 
"With  trees  &  Grass." 

The  whole  of  the  pavilions  and  dormitories  to  be  united  by  a 
colonnade  in  front,  of  the  height  of  the  lower  story  of  the  pavilions, 
under  which  they  may  go  dry  from  school  to  school.  The  colon 
nade  will  be  of  square  brick  pilasters  (at  first)  with  a  Tuscan  entab 
lature.  Now  what  we  wish  is  that  these  pavilions  as  they  will  show 
themselves  above  the  dormitories  shall  be  models  of  taste  and  good 
architecture,  and  of  a  variety  of  appearance,  no  two  alike,  so  as  to 
serve  as  specimens  for  the  architectural  lectures.  Will  you  set  your 
imagination  to  work  and  sketch  some  designs  for  us,  no  matter  how 
loosely  with  the  pen,  without  the  trouble  of  referring  to  scale  or  rule. 
For  we  want  nothing  but  the  outline  of  the  architecture  as  the  in 
ternal  must  be  arranged  according  to  local  convenience.  A  few 
sketches  such  as  need  not  take  you  a  moment,  will  greatly  oblige  us. 
The  Visitors  of  the  College  are  President  Monroe,  Mr.  Madison, 
3  others  whom  you  do  not  know  and  myself.  We  have  to  struggle 
against  two  important  wants,  money,  and  men  for  professors  cap 
able  of  fulfilling  our  views.  They  may  come  in  time  for  all  Europe 
seems  to  be  breaking  up.  In  the  meantime  help  us  to  provide  snug 
and  handsome  lodges  for  them.  I  salute  you  with  friendship  and 
respect.  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

Assuming  that  Dr.  Thornton  complied  with  the  request, 
—  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  presumed  that  he  did  more  than 
this,  for  reasons  which  will  appear  later,  —  examination  of 

C  5  3 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

the  request  itself  shows  that  the  favor  which  Jefferson  asked 
is  warranted  by  the  request  of  Thornton  to  be  permitted  to 
make  a  plaster  cast  of  Carrachi's  bust  of  Jefferson  which  was 
then  at  Monticello. 

Dr.  Thornton  being  an  architect  by  profession  whose 
talent  was  to  be  had  for  value  received,  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
hardly  the  man  to  ask  of  him  a  real  professional  service  with 
out  giving  quid  pro  quo.  There  is  no  doubt  after  reading  the 
entire  letter  that  Dr.  Thornton  was  made  to  feel  and  did 
feel  that  Jefferson's  request  was  no  greater  than  his  request 
for  permission  to  make  the  cast. 

The  character  of  the  request  strengthens  this  belief,  for 
he  says,  "Sketch  for  us  some  designs,  no  matter  how  loosely, 
with  the  pen,  without  the  trouble  of  referring  to  rule  or 
scale,  for  we  want  nothing  but  the  outline"  -"A  few 
sketches  such  as  need  not  take  you  a  moment." 

This  request  carries  with  it  its  own  limiting  qualifications, 
showing  clearly  that  he  only  wanted  "  suggestions "  as  to 
the  style  of  the  pavilions,  which  he  himself  describes  in  the 
letter  of  request.  He  in  no  manner  indicates  that  he  proposes 
to  employ  or  to  use  him  as  an  architect ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
the  letter  itself  negatives  any  such  possibility  by  specifically 
limiting  him  in  both  the  quality  and  quantity  of  his  sugges 
tions,  and  the  limits  are  those  which  would  no  more  than 
balance  the  request  concerning  the  bust. 

He  ] 


Monticello  :   Flew  from  entrance  lawn,  having  the  appearance  of  a 

one-story  building 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

The  buildings  and  their  grouping  as  they  were  actually 
produced  are  in  accordance  with  the  general  scheme  which 
Jefferson  describes  in  the  very  letter  of  request ;  hence,  what 
ever  might  have  been  Thornton's  suggestions,  they  did  not 
result  in  any  change  of  Jefferson's  original  architectural  con 
ceptions.  It  was,  perhaps,  one  of  those  requests  so  com 
monly  made  for  advice,  which  is  taken  only  if  it  harmonizes 
with  one's  own  ideas.  It  must  be  seen,  therefore,  that  if 
Thornton  rendered  any  assistance  of  any  kind  it  was  of  a 
very  general  character,  pertaining  to  the  style  of  the  pavil 
ions,  and  if  used  at  all  must  have  been  in  accordance  with 
Jefferson's  plan  which  he  had  outlined  in  the  letter  of  re 
quest  and  according  to  which  the  buildings  were  actually 
constructed.  This  same  plan,  as  will  develop  later,  had  been 
adopted  by  the  Board  of  Visitors  four  days  before  the  date 
of  Jefferson's  letter  to  Thornton. 

As  the  internal  evidence  does  not  warrant  the  assumption 
that  Jefferson  was  seeking  or  intending  to  use  Dr.  Thornton 
as  his  architect,  neither  does  the  external  evidence. 

There  is  no  mention  of  Dr.  Thornton's  name  in  any  of 
the  official  papers  of  the  University,  its  records,  its  minutes, 
or  its  financial  reports,  yet  these  records  mention  names  from 
all  classes ;  his  superintendent  of  construction,  his  carpenters, 
his  brickmasons,  his  Italian  stonecutters,  his  tinners,  slaters, 
and  painters.  The  relations  existing  between  the  two  men 

[  9   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

subsequent  to  May  9,  1817,  do  not  seem  to  have  been  of 
such  a  character  as  to  permit  us  to  suspect  that  Jefferson 
regarded  himself  as  under  any  serious  personal  obligation. 
The  following  letter  from  Jefferson  to  Thornton  answering 
a  request  of  Thornton's  for  aid  in  securing  a  government 
appointment  encourages  this  belief.  Here  is  the  letter  in 
full :  — 

MONTICELLO,  January  19.  1821. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  letter  of  the  9th  was  nineteen  days  in  its  passage  to  me, 
being  received  yesterday  evening  only ;  and  now  that  I  have  received 
it,  I  wish  I  could  answer  it  more  to  your  satisfaction.  I  must  explain 
to  you  my  situation.  When  I  retired  from  office  at  Washington, 
my  intimacy  with  my  successor  being  well  known,  I  became  the 
center  of  application  from  all  quarters  by  those  who  wished  appoint 
ment,  to  use  my  interposition  in  their  favor.  I  gave  into  it  for  a 
while  until  I  found  that  I  must  keep  myself  forever  prostrate  and  in 
the  posture  of  a  supplicant  before  the  Government,  or  renounce 
altogether  the  office  of  intercession.  I  determined  on  the  latter  ;  and 
the  number  of  applicants  obliged  me  to  have  a  formal  letter  printed 
in  blank,  to  which  I  had  only  to  put  the  date,  signature,  and  address. 
I  inclose  you  one  of  these  in  proof  of  the  necessity  I  was  under  of 
laying  down  such  a  law  for  myself,  and  of  a  rigorous  adherence  to 
it.  I  comfort  myself,  however,  in  your  case  with  the  unimportance 
of  any  interposition.  You  are  so  well  known  to  the  President  and 
heads  of  departments  that  they  need  nobody's  information  as  to  your 
qualifications  and  means  of  service.  Where  they  know  the  facts  they 
will  act  on  their  own  judgments,  and  in  your  case  particularly  with 
every  disposition  in  your  favor ;  and  whatever  they  shall  do  for  you 
will  give  no  one  greater  pleasure  than  myself.  I  am  much  indebted 

C  1°  ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

to  you  for  the  pamphlet  of  patents.  It  is  a  document  which  I  have 
often  occasion  to  consult.  With  my  respectful  souvenirs  to  the  ladies 
of  your  family,  I  pray  you  to  accept  the  assurance  of  my  continued 
esteem  and  attachment  THOMAS.  JEFFERSON. 

This  letter  indicates  Jefferson's  appreciation  of  Thornton, 
but  it  also  shows  that  Jefferson  did  not  acknowledge  any 
personal  obligation.  It  suggests  only  such  relations  as  might 
exist  between  two  men  conspicuous  in  public  life  and  not 
such  relation  as  would  have  existed  if  Thornton,  without 
being  retained  in  his  professional  capacity,  had  given  gra 
tuitously  great  aid  in  Jefferson's  architectural  undertaking. 

The  external  evidence,  then,  so  far  as  it  pertains  to  the 
Thornton  letter,  indicates  that  Thornton  was  not  retained  by 
Jefferson,  since  the  records  do  not  mention  him  or  show  that 
he  received  compensation,  and  Jefferson's  refusal  personally 
to  aid  him  in  securing  public  office  indicates  that  he  had  not 
rendered  Jefferson  any  very  great  personal  service.  At  this 
point  it  might  be  worth  mentioning  that  when  as  President 
of  the  United  States  it  became  Jefferson's  duty  to  appoint 
an  architect  for  the  Capitol,  he  did  not  appoint  Thornton, 
but  Latrobe,  the  latter  holding  the  office  until  the  War  of 
1812. 

The  firstborn  of  Jefferson's  architectural  children,  the  most 
ingenious,  and,  in  many  respects  the  most  difficult,  was  his  own 
home,  Monticello.  This  was  begun  in  1769  and  was  essen- 

L  11 : 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

tially  fully  conceived  on  that  date,  for,  while  it  was  not  com 
pleted  for  thirty-one  years  (until  1 801 ),  the  foundation  plan 
was  modified  during  that  time  in  only  one  important  respect, 
that  of  projecting  as  a  segment  of  an  octagon  the  west  eleva 
tion  of  the  main  building  into  the  west  portico.  A  change 
in  the  elevation  of  the  main  story  consisted  only  of  arching 
over  the  north  and  south  piazzas  around  which  he  returned  the 
cornice  of  the  main  building.  Examination  of  the  structural 
work  as  it  exists  to-day  quickly  verifies  these  conclusions. 

The  tradition  that  he  constantly  changed  his  plans  after 
traveling  abroad  is  true  only  in  respect  to  the  two  features  men 
tioned.  Yet  this  tradition  has  been  given  great  character  by 
a  statement  of  the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt  in  his 
classic  description  of  Monticello  as  he  saw  it  while  visiting  Mr. 
Jefferson  in  1 796.  The  statement  which  has  been  referred  to 
says :  "  He  continues  his  original  plan  and  even  improves 
on  it  by  giving  his  building  more  elevation  and  extent"  ;  and 
further  on,  "  —  his  travels  in  Europe  have  supplied  him 
with  models;  he  has  appropriated  them  to  his  design."  This 
entire  letter  is  well  worth  repeating,  not  only  because  of  its 
splendid  description,  but  in  order  to  show  that,  after  all,  the 
Duke  did  not  mean  that  the  original  plan  was  changed  but 
that  the  decoration  and  the  detail  were  constantly  evolving 
during  the  time  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  travels.  Here  is  the 
letter :  — 


Monticello:  Fieivfrom  living  lawn,  no  visible  outbuildings, — no  kitchen. 
Arrangement  of  window  and  doors  so  as  to  appear  one-storied 


fu»m 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

June,  1796. 

The  house  stands  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  and  the  taste 
and  arts  of  Europe  have  been  consulted  in  the  formation  of  its  plan. 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  commenced  its  construction  before  the  American 
Revolution ;  since  that  epoch  his  life  has  been  constantly  engaged  in 
public  affairs,  and  he  has  not  been  able  to  complete  the  execution  of 
the  whole  extent  of  the  project  it  seems  he  had  at  first  conceived. 
That  part  of  the  building  which  was  finished  has  suffered  from  the 
suspension  of  the  work,  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  two  years  since 
resumed  the  habits  and  leisure  of  private  life,  is  now  employed  in 
repairing  the  damage  occasioned  by  this  interruption,  and  still  more 
by  his  absence;  he  continues  his  original  plan,  and  even  improves 
on  it  by  giving  to  his  building  more  elevation  and  extent.  He  intends 
that  they  shall  consist  only  of  one  story,  crowned  with  balustrades ; 
and  a  dome  is  to  be  constructed  in  the  centre  of  the  structure.  The 
apartments  will  be  large  and  convenient ;  the  decoration  both  outside 
and  inside,  simple,  yet  regular  and  elegant.  Monticello,  according 
to  its  first  plan,  was  infinitely  superior  to  all  other  houses  in  America, 
in  point  of  taste  and  convenience;  but  at  that  time  Mr.  Jefferson  had 
studied  taste  and  the  fine  arts  in  books  only.  His  travels  in  Europe  have 
supplied  him  with  models;  he  has  appropriated  them  to  his  design; 
and  his  new  plan,  the  execution  of  which  is  already  much  advanced, 
will  be  accomplished  before  the  end  of  next  year,  and  then  his  house 
will  certainly  deserve  to  be  ranked  with  the  most  pleasant  mansion 
in  France  and  England. 

The  Duke's  prediction  of  the  early  completion  of  Mon 
ticello  was  in  error,  for  in  November,  just  as  the  walls  for 
the  dome  were  completed  and  ready  for  the  roof,  a  blizzard 
came  and  the  freezing  weather  arrested  the  progress  for 

another  season. 

[   15   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

The  dream  of  erecting  a  house  of  noble  distinction  was 
taking  possession  of  the  mind  of  young  Jefferson  while  he 
was  a  student  in  college,  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  Virginia's 
polite  society,  the  guest  of  Governor  Fauquier  and  the  pro- 
te"ge"  of  Small  and  Wythe.  During  the  vacation  of  1 762-63, 
when  he  was  in  his  twentieth  year,  after  spending  his  days 
in  study,  he  would  at  sunset  cross  the  Rivanna,  in  his  own 
canoe,  from  Shadwell  to  Monticello  Mountain,  and  leave  new 
grades  for  the  laborers  who  were  even  then,  seven  years 
before  he  began  building,  leveling  its  summit  upon  which 
he  was  to  erect  his  grand  edifice.  After  the  fire  in  1770 
destroyed  his  birthplace  at  Shadwell,  he  moved  his  mother's 
family  into  Monticello,  which  was  far  enough  advanced  to 
house  them  comfortably,  and  in  the  winter  of  1772  it  was, 
although  incomplete,  ready  to  receive  his  bride. 

Whence  could  young  Jefferson  import  an  architect  ? 
These  were  days  before  Thornton,  Turner,  Latrobe,  and 
Hallet  —  days  in  Virginia  when  such  services  were  not  to  be 
found  for  the  seeking  nor  to  be  had  for  the  asking.  In  fact 
the  absence  of  such  talent  forced  Jefferson  to  become  his 
own  architect,  as  many  other  Virginians  had  been  up  to  that 
time.  But  on  the  completion  of  his  Monticello,  he  became 
the  arbiter,  the  critic,  and  instructor  in  this  art,  and  his  ad 
vice  and  his  services  were  urgently  sought  by  all  the  prom 
inent  planters  of  the  day,  as  well  as  by  the  public,  for  the 

C  163 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

Virginia  Capitol  Building  was  in  great  part  his  creation.  His 
fame  as  an  architect  was  not  confined  to  his  own  state  or 
even  country.  Monticello  was  visited  by  many  distinguished 
foreigners  and  written  of  in  books  of  travel  in  foreign  lan 
guages,  one  Frenchman  remarking  that  Jefferson  was  the 
first  American  who  had  consulted  the  fine  arts  to  know  how 
he  should  shelter  himself  from  the  weather. 

Jefferson's  conception  was  a  step  forward  in  the  art  of 
home-building.  The  colonists  had  crowded  about  themselves 
offices  and  shops  for  the  conduct  of  a  planter's  business  : 
weaving,  dyeing,  distilling,  shoemaking,  tailoring,  black- 
smithing,  and  wagonmaking.  Jefferson  began  by  concealing 
all  these  handicrafts,  removing  the  symbols  which  suggested 
service,  veiling  the  materials  of  our  lower  activities,  perfect 
ing  and  minimizing  the  labor  in  them,  while  he  prevented 
their  overflow  into,  and  their  hard  intrusion  upon,  the  spirit  of 
a  home.  Not  only  did  Monticello  do  this,  but  it  went  farther 
by  obscuring  those  that  performed  the  labor.  Dishwashers 
and  cooks,  butlers  and  maids  came  quietly  through  concealed 
passages ;  with  wood,  water,  food,  and  ashes  they  ascended 
and  descended  stairs  which  had  been  cunningly  tucked  away 
in  unobtrusive  fashion.  The  old-time  Virginian  required  for 
his  own  living,  as  well  as  for  the  entertainment  of  his  guests, 
that  troops  of  slaves  be  moving  in  all  directions  with  wood 
for  fires,  cans  for  ashes,  cold  water  for  drinking,  warm  water 

C    »7   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

for  bathing,  and  hot  water  for  shaving.  Such  was  the  life 
lived  at  "  The  Grove,"  at  "Brandon,"  and  at  "Shirley," 
where  too  often  the  offices  to  be  performed  created  confu 
sion  in  the  main  hall,  the  seat  of  the  house's  soul  where 
quiet  dignity  should  prevail. 

The  ingenuous  ignorance  affected  by  those  who  assert 
that  Jefferson  forgot  his  stairways  would  be  highly  offensive 
were  not  its  absurdity  so  great  as  to  make  us  know  that  it 
is  meant  to  be  a  pleasant  little  irregularity  of  speech.  Jeffer 
son  did  not  forget  to  provide  stairs ;  on  the  contrary,  stair 
ways  were  the  subject  always  of  his  serious  consideration. 
He  looked  upon  them  as  a  horrible  necessity;  to  his  artistic 
sense  they  were  extremely  offensive.  His  attempt  to  secure 
greater  architectural  dignity  than  was  usual  to  a  home  re 
quired  stateliness,  high  ceilings,  one  roof  —  required  that  the 
ceiling  should  not  at  once  with  a  vulgar  voice  tell  the  tale 
of  its  being  at  the  same  time  the  floor  of  a  hall  above.  The 
earth  itself  was  degraded  in  the  Greek  mind  when  it  con 
ceived  that  the  sky  was  only  the  floor  of  a  heaven  above 
where  Zeus  reigned  amidst  his  court.  "(See  Plate  in.) 

It  has  always  been  the  architect's  most  difficult  task  to 
discover  opportunity  in  a  dwelling  for  the  successful  display 
of  his  talent;  the  requirements  for  a  dwelling  are  too  per 
sonal,  too  narrow,  too  inflexible,  and  smack  too  much  of 
the  organic  necessities  of  living,  for  him  to  secure  dignity 

C   18   H 


Mont'wello  :  Main  Hall ;  stairway  hidden  y  —  nothing  to  suggest 

chambers  above 


'uA?,   •,  \Y.A\ 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

and  at  the  same  time  satisfy  these  requirements.  "Jefferson 
successfully  conquered  these  difficulties  by  making  the  ex 
terior  of  Monticello  appear  to  be  a  one-storied  building,  and 
safeguarded  this  delusion,  for,  upon  entering,  no  stairway 
stood  sentinel  to  announce  the  deception.  How  well  he  con 
ceived  and  executed  a  piece  of  residential  architecture  ;  how 
perfectly  he  adapted  it  to  the  spirit  of  true  art  and  responded 
to  the  demands  of  his  time  are  attested  by  the  fact  that  for 
more  than  half  a  century  after  its  construction  it  was  the 
most  renowned  private  residence  in  America. 

Whence  came  the  preparation  for  such  tasks  ?  Jefferson, 
a  twenty-seven-year-old  Virginian  planter,  conceiving  a  new 
architecture,  or  ingeniously  adapting  classic  forms  to  the 
unfolding  of  a  new  country's  demands !  Such  talent  could 
not  have  been  altogether  inherent.  We  learn  that  he  gradu 
ated  with  a  fair  reading  knowledge  of  Latin,  French,  and 
Greek;  that  he  further  improved  these  accomplishments 
under  the  instruction  of  Wyeth,  his  law  tutor,  whom  he  de 
scribes  as  the  best  classical  scholar  in  Virginia,  and  that  he 
mastered  mathematics  and  Italian  in  private  study.  So  far  as 
evidence  exists,  these  moments  of  delving  into  classic  litera 
ture  were  the  only  sources  of  his  architectural  inspiration  up 
to  the  time  he  built  Monticello.  This  home,  which  is  still  the 
shrine  —  the  mecca  —  of  the  tourist-student  of  American 
architecture,  to  have  been  built  by  a  twenty-seven-year-old 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

Virginian  will  throughout  time  be  the  source  of  skeptical 
researchers  in  the  architecture  of  the  Colonial  period.  We 
may  expect,  therefore,  to  continue  to  hear  the  perennial  voice 
of  the  doubting  Thomas.  And  yet,  whatever  doubt  exists  as 
to  the  architectural  authorship  of  the  University  of  Virginia, 
there  seems  never  to  have  been  any  question  about  Jefferson 
having  been  the  real  and  only  architect  of  Monticello. 

The  genius  and  versatility  required  and  displayed  in  the 
production  of  a  Monticello  far  surpass  those  which  are  de 
manded  of  the  creator  of  a  temple,  a  church,  or  public  build 
ing,  where  the  adaptations  are  never  "personalized";  and 
since,  when  an  untraveled  Virginia  planter  with  only  such 
preparation  as  could  be  gotten  from  the  reading  of  books, 
he  was  able  to  produce  a  Monticello,  surely  no  effort  of  the 
imagination  is  .required  to  believe  that  he,  after  having  been 
a  world-character,  a  Governor  of  Virginia,  a  Minister  to 
France,  a  traveler  in  Italy,  and  twice  a  President  of  the 
United  States,  could  successfully  undertake  the  buildings  of 
the  University  of  Virginia. 

Monticello  was  the  only  complete  piece  of  domestic  archi 
tecture  by  Jefferson,  but  all  of  the  most  pretentious  homes 
in  the  neighborhood,  either  in  plan  or  decoration,  embodied 
some  of  the  Jeffersonian  principle. 

In  a  large  package  of  Jefferson's  drawings,  which  has 
come  into  the  University's  possession,  was  found  a  plan  and 

C  22  3 


Monticello  :   One  of  the  hidden  stairways 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

front  elevation  of  a  typical  Jeffersonian  colonial  residence. 
The  drawing  is  undoubtedly  Jefferson's,  and  on  the  back  of 
it  in  Jefferson's  hand  is  written  «  Jno.  H.  Cocke,  Bremo." 
The  plan,  while  not  identically  that  upon  which  Bremo  was 
constructed,  is  unquestionably  its  inspiration.  The  building 
is  on  a  bluff  which  commands  a  view  of  the  James  River  at 
its  foot  and  a  splendid  western  mountain  view.  Like  Mon- 
ticello  it  has  two  porticoes  —  one  overlooking  the  fertile 
river-farm  with  the  river  in  the  background,  the  other  com 
manding  the  western  hill- view.  The  building  is  square,  with 
a  hip-roof  with  balustraded  cornice  and  deck.  The  river 
portico  is  recessed  and  without  approach  from  the  grounds, 
which  were  formal  and  exacting  in  the  foreground,  but 
gradually  in  grading  and  planting  blended  with  the  pastoral 
view  beyond.  The  west  portico  was  more  pretentious,  and 
entrance  was  here  effected.  There  were  no  underground 
passages  from  side  to  side ;  but,  in  place  of  these,  there  were 
two  means  of  communication  between  front  and  rear  and 
between  one  side  and  the  other  by  which  servants  could 
perform  their  offices  without  appearing  on  the  landscape. 
The  front  lawn  is  semi-circular  in  plan  and  bounded  by  a 
redoubt,  a  moat  —  an  open  ditch  seven  feet  deep  which  is 
crossed  directly  opposite  the  portico  by  a  bridge.  There 
is  no  embankment  raised  on  the  margins  of  the  ditch,  or 
«  ha-ha." 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

The  front  elevation  shows  two  and  one  quarter  stories 
above  the  ground,  and  greater  breadth  and  dignity  to  this 
elevation  are  gained  by  a  parapet  wall  extending  laterally 
to  the  two  pavilions;  a  slate  roof  over  the  parapet  wall  pro 
jects  toward  the  river  from  the  top  of  this  wall  covering  the 
lower  walk-way  from  the  mansion  to  the  end  pavilions.  The 
walk-way  grade  is  on  the  basement-floor  level  so  that,  if 
the  wall  were  removed,  a  pedestrian  would  scarcely  be  visible 
to  one  standing  on  the  front  lawn.  In  other  words,  the  rear 
lawn  is  five  feet  lower  than  the  front  lawn.  Owing  to  this 
difference  in  grade  the  rear  elevation  shows  three  full  stories 
instead  of  two  and  one  quarter,  as  does  the  front.  The  west 
portico  is  strikingly  Jeffersonian  Doric,  and  if  it  were  not 
made  from  the  drawing  left  by  Jefferson  it  was  from  an 
exact  reproduction  of  that  drawing. 

The  interior  of  Bremo  does  not  exactly  correspond  with 
Jefferson's  drawing,  but  the  changes  are  too  slight  to  ob 
scure  the  identity  of  the  architect.  There  are  three  features 
that  show  the  Jefferson  influence ;  the  main  entrance  hall, 
the  cross-halls  or  passages  and  the  stairways.  The  entrance 
hall  is  the  full  building-height,  from  main  floor  to  roof 
trusses,  of  pleasing  proportions,  with  a  hard- wood  floor  laid 
in  squares  of  nine-inch  blocks,  dark  and  light  wood  alter 
nating,  without  borders.  The  cornice  is  a  reduced  repro 
duction  of  that  seen  in  Leoni's  edition  of  Palladio  from  the 

C  26  ] 


Mont'icello :  Reception  Hall  connecting  with  Main  Hall,  and  having 
also  an  entrance  through  the  South  Portico.  Floor  of  walnut,  beech, 
and  wild  cherry 


\\u\\ 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

Baths  of  Caracalla,  and  exactly  the  same  as  that  used  in  the 
first  pavilion  on  West  Lawn  at  the  University  of  Virginia. 
This  cornice  came  from  Palladio,  and  Jefferson  was  the  only 
Virginian  at  that  time  in  possession  of  Palladio  —  a  copy 
which  he  imported  after  many  unsuccessful  efforts  to  get  it 
in  America. 

The  cross-hall,  or  passages  as  Jefferson  calls  them,  are 
essentially  like  those  at  Monticello  in  that  they  afford  com 
munication  with  the  lateral  rooms  of  the  building  from  the 
sides  of  the  main  hall,  and  continue,  with  the  walk  on  the 
roof  of  the  covered  way,  onward  to  connect  with  the  main 
floor  of  the  lateral  pavilions,  or  bachelors'  quarters  as  they 
were  called. 

The  two  stairways  —  one  in  the  right  and  one  in  the  left 
passage  —  to  reach  the  chambers  above  are  obscurely  placed 
in  a  well  which  continues  to  a  skylight  in  the  roof,  so  that 
they  do  not  appear  in  the  line  of  vision  when  all  the  doors 
are  opened  and  a  vista  is  secured  from  one  end  pavilion 
through  the  main  hall,  the  two  cross-passages  to  the  other 
pavilion  two  hundred  feet  away. 

The  south  hall  is  only  one  and  one  half  stories  high,  much 
smaller,  but  with  a  Palladian  cornice  with  soffits  paneled 
between  the  modillions,  and  all  the  members  in  pleasing 
proportions. 

Aside  from  evidences  here  offered  confirming  the  as- 

[  29  H 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

sumption  that  Jefferson  put  his  imprint  upon  Bremo,  there 
was  a  personal  relation  between  these  two  men  extending 
through  many  years,  ending  only  with  Mr.  Jefferson's  death. 
Mr.  Cocke  was  regarded  as  a  disciple  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and 
was  finally  associated  with  the  great  statesman  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Governing  Board  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 
During  this  latter  relationship,  Cocke  used  frequently  to 
submit  his  building  plans  at  Bremo  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  criti 
cism  and  seek  aid.  Letters  are  now  extant  attesting  this  fact. 
General  Cocke  succeeded  Jefferson  at  the  University  as  the 
practical  builder  and  also  as  the  architect  for  the  commu 
nity.  He  followed  Mr.  Jefferson's  plan  in  training  his  own 
slaves  as  carpenters  and  stonecutters.  (Refer  to  plan  of 
Bremo,  Plate  i.) 

During  the  progress  of  work  at  the  University  of  Virginia, 
Jefferson  was  aiding  his  friend,  George  Divers,  in  planning 
a  mansion-house  at  Farmington,  three  miles  west  of  the 
University.  In  this  structure  the  Jeffersonian  hand  is  very 
apparent.  A  large  octagonal  structure,  in  front  of  an  old- 
fashioned  square  house,  with  circular  upper  windows,  a  full- 
height  hall  behind  a  Doric  portico  with  Jefferson's  pro 
portions,  but  certainly  lacking  in  Jeffersonian  detail.  He 
embodied  here  the  same  principle  of  hidden  passages  leading 
through  tunnels  below  grade,  under  colonnade  and  arcades 
above  grade,  past  the  doors  of  servants'  quarters,  behind 

L  30  H 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

area  walls  supported  by  flying  buttresses  to  the  stable  three 
hundred  feet  away.  A  subsequent  owner  has  desecrated  the 
main  hall  and  robbed  it  of  its  grandeur  by  putting  in  a  floor 
just  beneath  the  circular  windows  in  order  to  make  an  upper 
room  over  the  hall.  Fortunately  this  splendid  old  estate  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  those  having  a  reverence  for  his 
tory  and  a  love  of  art,  and  we  may  hope  to  see  the  hall 
restored. 

Monticello,  Bremo,  and  Farmington  are  typical  examples 
of  Jefferson's  ideals  in  domestic  architecture  and  the  Uni 
versity  of  Virginia  illustrates  his  powers  in  relation  to  public 
buildings  of  a  monumental  character.  It  is  certain  that  George 
Washington  and  his  commissioners  consulted  Jefferson  on  the 
plans  of  the  White  House  and  the  Capitol  Building  —  that 
his  knowledge  and  tastes  were  influential  in  the  making  of 
Virginia's  State  House.  But  it  was  in  the  University  build 
ings  that  Jefferson's  own  mind  ran  free,  untrammelled,  and 
unrestrained  in  the  field  of  monument. 

The  plan  of  the  University  did  not,  full  panoplied,  leap  forth 
from  the  brain  of  Jefferson,  but  was  an  evolution  out  of  the 
meditations  of  an  intellect  made  fertile  by  a  long  life  crowded 
with  accurate  observations  and  exceptional  experiences. 

By  examination  of  the  records,  which  are  both  verbal  and 
graphic,  it  is  possible  to  trace  the  growth  and  maturation  of 
his  architectural  composition.  As  early  as  1 8 1 7,  he  had  fixed 

C  si  3 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

certain  fundamental  principles  from  which  he  never  deviated. 
( i )  That  the  creation  was  not  to  be  a  single  grand  edifice, 
but  was  to  consist  of  distinct  yet  blended,  separate  yet  united, 
independent  yet  affiliated  units;  that  it  should  be  an  archi 
tectural  democracy.  (2)  That  these  units,  despite  the  use 
of  modest  materials  which  the  extent  of  his  funds  might 
prescribe,  should  in  their  lines  and  in  their  proportions  con 
form  with  the  laws  of  art.  In  this  he  was  not  flattering  a 
vanity :  he  was  complying  with  what  he  recognized  as  an 
obligation;  for,  as  he  explained  to  Madison,  he  conceived  it 
a  duty  resting  upon  those  responsible  for  the  construction 
of  public  buildings,  that  they  be  so  designed  as  to  furnish 
models  both  for  study  and  for  imitation,  in  order  that  the 
public  taste  might  be  educated.  (3)  That  in  the  arrange 
ment  of  this  artistic  democracy — this  academic  village  — 
there  should  be  a  central  "  square,"  an  open  court,  a  com 
mons  for  both  teacher  and  taught,  professor,  proctor,  and 
student,  who,  having  discarded  their  robes  of  rank  in  the 
environing  pavilion  and  dormitory,  as  mere  men  might  mingle 
here  together.  Never  swerving  from  these  principles,  but, 
with  irresistible  energy,  struggling  against  the  indisposition 
of  his  time  to  provide  for  higher  education,  he  labored 
relentlessly. 

His  first  draft  of  a  lay-out  which  he  presented  to  the 
Trustees  May  5,  1817,  on  which  day  Albemarle  Academy 

32 


Farmington  :  Jefferson '.y  portico  and  octagonal  addition  to  the  front  of  an 
old  square  Virginia  farm  dwelling 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

became  Central  College,  was  the  same  lay-out  which  five 
days  later  he  sent  to  Thornton.  It  provided  for  nine  two- 
storied  pavilions  or  separate  schools,  arranged  three  on  each 
of  three  sides  of  an  open  square,  all  connected  by  a  range 
of  single-story  dormitories.  The  dormitories  were  each  de 
signed  for  two  students.  The  main  floor  of  each  pavilion 
was  to  be  used  as  the  lecture-room  and  workshop,  while  the 
chambers  above  were  for  the  use  of  the  family  of  the  pro 
fessor  in  charge  of  that  school.  (See  Plates  iv,  v.)  The 
width  of  the  square  was  771  feet,  but  since  the  fourth 
boundary  was  undefined  the  space  permitted  of  being  in 
definitely  extended  as  a  parallelogram.  Each  pavilion  was 
provided  with  a  garden  in  the  rear.  So  far  he  had  not  even 
acknowledged  the  expediency  of  a  structure  to  house  func 
tions  common  to,  yet  different  from,  those  of  all  the  schools. 
The  time  had  not  yet  come  when  a  mind  of  Jefferson's 
democratic  temper  could  accept  the  necessity  for  a  central 
edifice  without  coquetting  with  centralization  and  endanger 
ing  the  independence  of  the  schools.  To  him  the  states  were 
sovereign  still,  despite  the  fact  that  he  had  already  presided 
over  a  United  States.  (See  Plate  iv.) 

The  study  of  the  plans,  with  their  notations,  corrections, 
and  amendments  all  in  his  own  hand,  makes  it  possible  not 
only  to  read  their  growth,  but  the  very  order  of  their  growth. 
The  original  plan  which  he  presented  and  which  was  adopted 

C  35   H 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

by  the  Trustees  was  greatly  modified  within  six  months, 
and  by  the  time  the  basement  walls  of  his  first  building  had 
reached  the  main-floor  level,  he  was  ready  with  his  amended 
plan.  A  distinctive  feature  of  his  original  plan  was  the  pro 
vision  for  a  side  entrance  to  each  pavilion,  in  order  that  the 
professor's  household  might  reach  their  apartments  above 
without  being  required  to  pass  through  the  front  or  lecture- 
room.  This  feature  was  further  emphasized  in  the  more 
detailed  plan  drawn  on  a  larger  scale  for  the  use  of  the 
builders.  (See  Plate  v.) 

Moreover,  examination  of  this  building  as  it  stands  to-day 
verifies  the  fact  that  it  was  actually  proceeded  with  upon  this 
plan  until  it  had  risen  to  the  principal  floor  level.  The  rear 
wall  of  the  adjoining  dormitory  on  the  north  still  bears  the 
remains  of  the  junction  of  the  area  wall  of  the  side  passage 
way,  and,  further,  the  main  north  foundation  wall  extends 
twenty-four  feet  farther  backward  than  the  south  wall  which 
corresponds  with  the  area  wall  plan.  These  facts  enable  us 
to  locate  the  change  in  point  of  construction,  and,  by  the 
fortunate  preservation  of  a  letter  from  Jefferson  to  Samuel 
Harrison,  we  are  enabled  to  locate  the  change  in  point  of 
time :  — 

Octo.  5th  1817 
MR.  SAM'L  HARRISON,  DEAR  SIR  : 

We  have  got  one  building  up  to  the  surface  of  the  ground; 
and  tomorrow  being  the  periodical  meeting  of  the  Visitors  and  also 

C   36   } 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

that  of  our  county  and  district  courts,  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  1st 

stone  will  take  place.   .   .   . 

THOS.  JEFFERSON. 

During  the  two  months  that  his  builders  were  getting  the 
pavilion  up  to  the  surface  of  the  ground,  Jefferson  must  have 
been  busy  with  the  extension  of  his  plans  as  well  as  with  modi 
fications  of  his  old  ones,  for  at  the  meeting  of  the  Visitors 
held  the  next  day  after  laying  the  corner-stone,  he  presented 
his  plans  for  two  other  pavilions  with  their  attached  dormi 
tories.  The  two  now  proposed  were  far  more  pretentious  than 
the  one  under  construction,  and  no  doubt  the  Visitors  regarded 
them  as  needlessly  extravagant  and  beyond  the  local  builders' 
craftsmanship.  But  the  Sage  had  anticipated  this  at  a  previous 
meeting  held  at  Mr.  Madison's  home  in  Orange,  July  28, 
and  had  then  caused  to  be  passed  the  following  resolution :  — 

It  is  further  agreed  that  it  be  expedient  to  import  a  stonecutter 
from  Italy  and  that  Mr.  Jefferson  be  authorized  and  requested  to 
take  the  requisite  measure  to  effect  that  object. 

The  first  University  building,  which  was  now  under  way 
was  one  of  Palladio's  lighter  Dorics,  which  Jefferson  felt 
could  be  successfully  undertaken  by  the  local  artisans,  but  the 
two  proposed  at  this  meeting  —  one  a  Corinthian  and  one  an 
Ionic  —  were  of  the  heavier  Roman  type ;  he,  therefore,  felt 
that  he  would  be  on  safer  ground  in  possessing  talent  better 
trained. 

C  37   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

It  was  an  ambition  of  Jefferson  also  to  construct  his  Uni 
versity  out  of  native  materials.  It  cost  him  $1390  to  demon 
strate  the  unfitness  of  native  stone,  a  mica  schist,  to  be 
wrought  into  ornamental  parts ;  he  reports  to  the  Literary 
Fund  as  follows:  — 

On  trial  the  stone  we  had  counted  on  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  University  was  found  totally  unsusceptible  of  delicate  work ; 
and  some  from  a  very  distant  but  nearest  other  quarry  known,  be 
sides  a  heavy  expense  attending  its  transportation,  was  extremely 
tedious  to  work  and  believed  not  proof  against  the  influences  of  the 
weather.  We  arrested  the  work  here,  therefore,  and  compromised 
with  the  artist  at  the  expense  of  his  past  wages,  his  board  and  pass 
age  hither,  amounting  to  $1390.86.  (See  Plate  vn.) 

These  capitals  which  he  endeavored  to  have  cut  from 
native  stone  are  now,  in  various  stages  of  completion,  stand 
ing  in  the  gardens  of  East  Range. 

His  attempt  to  use  local  slate  was  more  successful,  for  he 
covered  his  pavilions  and  hotels  with  a  product  that  he  had 
searched  out.  Here  is  his  letter  on  this  subject  to  Captain 
Peyton,  of  Richmond :  — 

MONTICELLO,  June   12,   18 
DEAR  SIR: 

You  know  we  are  engaged  in  the  establishment  of  a  Central 
College  near  Charlottesville  and  we  are  sure  you  will  have  your  chil 
dren  educated  at  it.  On  that  ground  we  claim  a  right  to  give  you 
occasional  trouble  with  its  concerns.  We  wish  to  cover  our  build 
ings  with  slate  and  we  believe  all  our  lands  on  Henderson's  and  B. 

I  38   ] 


University  of  Virginia  :  Jeffersoii*  s  Palladian  Doric  on  Tuscan.  The 
first  building  constructed.  J\'ow  occupied  by  the  Faculty  Club 
(Pavilion 


.wvwv.'V  uo»  «»Vw(Y   '.uisYmVufV  ?/\v»:v^£\,   •.  v>'vuVo,-\vA  *\o  \\Vv/:wj\vV  \ 
\vN\\\  )\v\    >M  \s^\  Wv^rw  'irvv/.     A^V>vnV.«o- 

(\\V\ 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

island  creeks  to  be  full  of  what  is  excellent.  We  wish,  therefore,  to 
get  a  workman,  a  slater,  to  come  and  examine  it  and  if  found  good, 
to  undertake  our  work.  There  is  a  Mr.  Jones,  a  Welshman  who 
did  some  excellent  work  in  Charlottesville,  and  who  is  supposed  to 
be  now  in  Richmond.  If  you  can  prevail  on  him  to  come,  we  would 
prefer  him  because  we  know  him.  If  not  to  be  had, then  we  request 
you  to  search  out  some  other  good  slater  and  send  him  on  to  us,  to 
examine  our  quarries  and  say  whether  the  slate  is  good.  I  inclose 
a  specimen  of  our  slate  from  which  he  may  form  some  judgment 
of  the  probability  of  finding  what  will  answer. 

THOS.  JEFFERSON. 

On  the  date  of  the  adoption  of  the  plans  for  the  "two 
other  pavilions  "  the  lawn  had  not  been  contracted,  for  the 
resolution  says  "each  pavilion  with  its  twenty  dormitories"-, 
but  before  the  second  building  was  laid  off  in  the  spring  of 
1818  he  had  reduced  the  lawn  to  its  present  size,  for  this 
second  building  and  all  subsequent  ones  were  laid  out  with 
ten  or  less  dormitories  instead  of  twenty.  Here,  then,  in  the 
spring  of  1818  occurred  his  second  serious  modification. 

These  two  buildings,  making  three  in  all,  were  well  ad 
vanced  when  on  January  25,  1819,  the  act  passed  the  legis 
lature  converting  Central  College  into  the  University  of  Vir 
ginia.  The  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  of  the  new 
institution,  held  March  29,  1819,  found  Jefferson  ready  with 
plans  for  two  other  pavilions  and  one  hotel.  It  was  the  location 
of  this  hotel  which  brought  about  the  third  change  of  plan. 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

He  had  already  constructed  four  buildings  on  West  Lawn, 
and,  in  order  to  locate  the  first  hotel  ( which  was  not  located 
until  April  3,  1820),  he  was  forced  to  decide  whether  or  not 
he  should  align  it  with  his  buildings  for  instruction  or  whether 
he  should  establish  a  new  order.  He  decided  on  the  latter, 
and  on  this  date  (April  3)  we  find  the  first  record  of  a 
Western  Back  Street  (now  West  Range)  upon  which  he 
located  Hotel  "A,"  the  building  now  used  as  a  physiologi 
cal  laboratory.  This  was  more  in  the  nature  of  growth  than 
change  of  plan,  for  in  the  beginning  his  scheme  only  com 
prehended  feeding  the  mind ;  now,  however,  he  must  attend 
to  the  wants  of  the  body.  (See  Plates  vin,  ix.) 

This  enlargement  of  plan  from  ten  to  sixteen  buildings, 
and  from  two  to  four  parallel  ranges  of  buildings  gives  him 
an  opportunity  to  revert  to  his  original  size  of  space,  so  that 
the  entire  system  of  buildings  from  outside  range  to  outside 
range  measures  seven  hundred  and  seventy-one  feet,  ex 
actly  that  which  appears  on  his  first  draft.  This  could  not 
have  been  an  accident,  for,  as  will  be  observed,  his  superin 
tendent  wanted  to  change  this  in  order  to  avoid  a  deep  exca 
vation  at  hotel  "A."  Since  he  was  not  permitted  to  make 
this  change,  we  can  conclude  that  it  is  a  matter  upon  which 
Jefferson  was  insistent. 

Having  decided  upon  two  double  ranges  of  buildings,  he 
proceeded  to  draft  his  enlarged  plan.  His  first  new  lay-out 

C    42    ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

shows  that  he  intended  to  have  his  two  outer  ranges  also 
face  toward  his  commons  or  lawn,  for  the  plan  is  still  in  ex 
istence  showing  by  dotted  lines  how  he  proposed  to  treat 
the  rears  of  the  buildings  already  constructed  in  order  to 
prevent  one  row  of  buildings  from  looking  into  the  back 
yards  of  another.  (See  Plates  vm,  ix.)  Finding,  however, 
that  the  legislature,  the  source  of  his  funds,  was  more  inter 
ested  in  getting  new  buildings  erected  than  in  remodelling 
old  ones,  he  regarded  it  as  expedient  to  reverse  his  plans 
for  the  Western  Back  Street  Range  and  face  them  away  from 
the  Lawn  Range.  Not  possessing  the  luxury  of  a  drafting 
department  at  Monticello,  he  resorted  to  the  ingenious  expe 
diency  of  cutting  out  with  a  penknife  the  part  to  be  changed 
and  replacing  it  in  the  same  drawing  with  a  piece  contain 
ing  the  revision.  It  is  due  to  this  fact  that  we  are  enabled  to 
trace  his  order  of  change,  for  the  original  plan  with  the  orig 
inal  dissected  piece  and  the  new  piece  supplied  are  still  pre 
served.  (See  Plates  vm,  ix.) 

This  change  of  plan  in  point  of  construction  is  certain  to 
have  been  just  at  the  completion  of  the  first  four  pavilions 
on  the  West  Lawn,  and  it  is  located  in  time  by  a  minute  of 
the  Board  April  3,  1820,  as  follows  :  — 

Resolved,  that  [certain  funds]  be  applied  to  the  erection  of  build 
ings  of  accommodation  on  the  Western  Back  Street. 

c  43 : 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

Although  he  does  not  seem  to  have  announced  it,  this  draw 
ing  which  he  presented  to  the  Board  had  upon  it  the  plan 
of  the  rotunda.  It  was,  however,  standing  isolated  in  the 
middle  of  the  north  end  of  the  commons  or  lawn.  And  at 
that  time  he  clearly  intended  it  to  be  so,  for,  in  giving  dis 
tances  of  the  various  buildings  from  this  point,  he  says, 
"  from  a  line  drawn  across  the  lawn  through  the  middle  of 
the  library,"  indicating  that  there  was  a  lawn  on  each  side 
of  the  rotunda  across  which  a  line  drawn  through  its  middle 
must  pass.  The  first  official  mention  of  the  library  was  in 
such  words  as  to  leave  no  doubt  but  that  the  Board  were 
already  cognizant  of  the  progress  of  the  plan  :  — 

Resolved,  that  it  is  expedient  to  proceed  with  the  building  of  the 
library  on  the  plan  submitted  to  the  Board,  provided  the  funds  of  the 
University  be  adequate  to  the  completion  of  the  buildings  already 
begun  (April  2,  I82l). 

On  October  7,  1822,  Jefferson's  annual  report  states  that 
"ten  pavilions  with  their  gardens,  six  hotels,  and  109  dor 
mitories  are  completed  except  for  some  garden  walls,  a  little 
plaistering,  some  of  the  capitals  and  part  of  the  grounds/' 

On  December  23,  1822,  he  first  mentions  the  rotunda 
terraces.  He  says:  — 

An  estimate  made  by  the  Proctor  at  an  early  period  supposed  that 
the  last  building  called  for  by  the  report  of  1818  and  not  yet  executed 

44 


University  of  Virginia  :  Rotunda  as  it  stands  to-day,  A'ort/i  view 


Vv  'r 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

would  cost  $46,847.00,  but  this  did  not  include  two  considerable 
appendages  necessary  to  connect  it  with  the  other  buildings. 

On  October  6,  1823,  Jefferson  tells  us  that  the  walls  of 
the  rotunda  are  ready  for  the  roof,  and  that  the  missing  capi 
tals  are  now  in  place,  that  the  garden  walls  are  finished,  that 
the  plastering  in  the  pavilions  is  completed,  and  that  the 
lawn  is  graded.  One  year  later,  October  5,  1824,  the  roof 
is  on  the  rotunda ! 

From  February  to  October,  1819,  must  have  been  a  busy 
time,  for  although  Jefferson  was  in  his  seventy-seventh  year 
he  had  in  those  eight  months  drawn  the  plans  and  written 
the  specifications  for  five  pavilions  and  five  hotels ;  this  task 
out  of  the  way,  he  during  the  next  year  (April  2,  1821) 
submitted  his  completed  plans  for  the  rotunda.  With  the 
completion  of  this  building  his  unified  composition  was  rounded 
out,  and  while  he  did  later  furnish  plans  for  an  observatory 
and  an  anatomical  theatre,  they  were  not  undertaken  until 
after  his  death  and  then  only  partially  executed. 

Monticello,  while  overlooking  the  University,  is  on  a 
mountain  four  miles  away,  and,  although  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
a  frequent  visitor,  he  did  not  come  down  every  day,  so  that 
a  running  correspondence  between  himself  and  his  superin 
tendent  of  construction  took  the  place  of  many  personal  in 
terviews.  A  few  scraps  of  this  correspondence  have  been 
preserved. 

[  47   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

Here  is  a  note  in  full:  — 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  May  1st,  1820. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  procured  you  a  pint  of  oil  of  our  painters.  If  you  have 
any  of  the  other  plans  of  the  Hotels  drawn  you  will  oblige  by  sending 
them  as  it  is  important  that  the  timber  should  be  cut  for  them  as 
soon  as  possible.  Hotel  A  on  account  of  the  flat  roof  being  so  large, 
will  be  difficult.  For  that  reason  I  believe  I  shall  give  it  to  Oldham. 
The  others  being  smaller  and  consequently  less  difficult  in  the  man 
agement  of  the  roof  I  intend  for  Spooner  &  Perry.  Hotel  A  if  placed 
in  a  line  with  the  north  flank  wall  of  Pav.  No.  1  will  have  no  dor 
mitory  attached  to  it  as  there  is  only  56  ft.  from  the  north  flank  to 
the  alley  or  cross  street  running  up  to  the  back  of  the  dormitories. 
I  wish  to  see  you  also  before  we  begin  the  foundations  of  the  hotels, 
as  I  find  if  we  cut  in  the  bank  the  depth  of  Hotel  A  we  shall  have  a 
bank  7  feet  high  and  then  the  cellar  to  dig  out ;  in  order  to  save  some 
labor  I  propose  advancing  the  buildings  a  few  feet  in  the  street  and 
then  throwing  the  street  more  to  the  East. 

I  am  Sir  your  obt  Ser. 

A.  S.  BROCKENBROUGH. 

To  whom  but  the  architect  could  this  letter  have  been 
written  ?  Every  architect  is  receiving  just  such  letters  to-day. 
The  problems  he  mentions  are  just  the  ones  that  every 
superintendent  is  confronted  with  and  the  answers  to  them 
are  just  such  as  only  the  architect  is  authorized  to  give. 

A  wealth  of  original  plans,  elevations,  and  specifications 
existing,  some  may  ask  what  has  become  of  the  detail  draw 
ings  ?  Detail  drawings  are  for  the  use  of  builders.  Jefferson 

[  48  ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

probably  furnished  few  full-size  details;  and,  if  he  did,  they 
were  destroyed  then,  as  they  are  now,  by  the  rough  hand 
ling  of  the  artisans.  There  are,  however,  some  of  these  pre 
served  :  One  of  his  Chinese  balustrade  ( see  Plate  x ) ,  one  of 
a  Doric  cap  for  Pavilion  IV,  and  one  for  the  architrave  of 
the  dining-hall  in  Hotel  A.  There  is  also  a  three-quarter  scale 
drawing  of  his  column  for  the  Tuscan  colonnade. 

Regardless  of  any  aid  Dr.  Thornton  or  any  other  fur 
nished,  the  real  source  of  his  rotunda  and  pavilions  was  Pal- 
ladio.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  determining  this  fact  by  an 
examination  of  the  buildings  and  comparing  them  with  those 
represented  by  Palladio,  but  besides  this,  we  have  Jefferson's 
constant  acknowledgment  of  this  authority.  His  correspond 
ence  during  the  constructive  period  makes  repeated  refer 
ence  to  Palladio,  or  to  his  editors,  Chambray  and  Leoni,  in 
order  to  convey  to  his  workmen  his  ideas  without  needless 
drawing.  Here  is  a  photograph  of  his  specifications  for  capi 
tals  for  four  pavilions.  (See  Plates  xi,  xn,  xin.) 

That  Jefferson  turned  to  Palladio  was  the  natural  result 
of  his  experience.  He  had  seen  the  work  of  the  few  archi 
tects  then  working  in  America.  He  was  familiar  with  their 
limitations,  their  untrained,  inefficient,  jealous,  and  quarrel 
some  dispositions.  He  knew  personally  Hallet,  Hoban, 
Turner,  Thornton,  and  Latrobe. 

Palladio  was  his  only  source  of  accurate  information  con- 

C  49  ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

cerning  Roman  classical  architecture,  and,  while  Palladio  may 
have  been  undiscriminating  enough  to  have  admired  most  the 
Colosseum  and  the  Triumphal  Arches,  the  so-called  degene 
rate  forms  of  Rome's  Antiquities,  he  nevertheless  recorded 
and  made  accessible  the  plans  and  exact  measurements  of 
her  purer  forms  as  found  in  the  Temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis 
and  the  Pantheon. 

Palladio  had  been  the  inspiration  of  Inigo  Jones,  who  began 
an  architecture  which  latter  culminated  in  the  so-called  Geor 
gian,  a  type  which,  although  represented  by  some  splendid 
monuments,  is  nevertheless  the  outgrowth  of  the  worst  that 
was  in  Palladio,  a  type  characterized  by  order  supporting  order, 
.clustering  of  columns,  multiplication  of  pilasters  crowned  with 
broken  entablatures,  and  frequently  indulging  inelegant,  if 
not  vulgar,  ornament.  The  Georgian  architecture  of  England 
was  rooted  in  the  depraved  forms  of  Palladio  —  it  was  a  lean 
ing  toward  the  Vitruvian,  and  while  Jefferson  also  found  his 
starting-point  in  Palladio,  his  development  was  in  precisely 
the  opposite  direction.  He  refused  to  be  led  away  from  such 
types  as  the  Pantheon,  but  used  Palladio  to  work  back  into 
them;  hence,  while  every  type  created  by  the  Georgians 
became  increasingly  mongrel  and  depraved,  every  form  by 
Jefferson  became  increasingly  refined  and  classical.  Jefferson 
rarely  indulges  a  pilaster,  only  once  superimposed  an  order, 
and  never  broke  an  entablature.  The  only  excuse  for  care- 

I  5°  ] 


University  of  Virginia  :  Jefferson* s  Temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis  as  it 
risen  alwve  the  Rotunda  Terraces  (Pavilion  II) 


(\\  w>Avj\f\    v/yw.-vv»'V  vi\ 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

lessly  designating  Jefferson's  work  as  Georgian  is  found  in  the 
accident  that  during  its  construction  a  George  was  on  the 
throne  of  England.  Vitruvius  describes  the  Roman  architect 
ure  as  it  was  under  the  Caesars,  including  its  beauties  and  its 
blemishes,  its  purity  and  its  degradation.  Palladio,  while  he  saw 
these  through  the  eyes  of  Vitruvius,  did  not  use  Vitruvius's 
discriminating  brain.  Inigo  Jones,  the  "English  Palladio," 
saw  and  comprehended  only  as  Palladio  did,  while  Jefferson, 
on  the  other  hand,  used  Palladio's  eyes,  but  his  own  power 
ful  discrimination.  To  this  is  due,  perhaps,  the  fact  that  the 
ponderous  and  sometimes  impressive  piles  of  the  Georgian 
period  fail  to  produce  in  the  beholder  that  reverential  satisfac 
tion  which  Jefferson's  simpler  and  purer  work  has  invariably 
inspired.  Jefferson's  monumental  architecture  should  have 
resulted  in  the  organization  and  definition  of  those  wander 
ing  and  diffusive  types  which  have  characterized  American 
architecture.  The  principles  which  are  equally  binding  upon 
the  designer,  no  matter  what  the  style  in  which  he  chose  to 
express  himself,  would  have  been  more  clearly  understood. 
We  should  then  have  been  spared  offensive  anachronism, 
ineffective  contrasts,  harmonies  which  do  not  harmonize, 
conformity  non-conforming.  Jefferson  dug  deeply  and  re 
moved  from  the  classic  forms  of  the  Caesars  the  architectural 
rubbish  of  the  centuries.  It  is,  then,  hardly  to  be  presumed 
that  he  could  have  been  greatly  aided  by  his  contemporaries, 

C  53   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

all  of  whom  were  developing  either  in  the  opposite  direction 
or  on  a  different  line.  All  others  were  Georgian,  Italo-Vitru- 
vian,  Gothic,  or  Renaissance ;  Jefferson  was  Roman  Classical. 
His  method  in  design  can  be  traced  in  his  plans  for  the 
library,  which  as  he  has  decided  shall  be  a  reduced  Pantheon 
after  Palladio.  He  says  :  — 

The  diameter  to  be  77  feet  being  1/2  that  of  the  Pantheon  conse 
quently  1/4  its  area  and  1/8  its  volume.  The  circumference  is  242 
feet.  (See  Plate  xiv.) 

To  adjust  itself  to  his  general  composition  he  has  decided 
that  he  wants  his  columns  to  have  a  basal  diameter  of  three 
feet.  This  being  his  module,  one  minute  of  the  module  is 
equal  to  one-sixtieth  of  thirty-six  inches  or  six-tenths  of 
an  inch.  With  this  lesser  unit  of  measure  he  proceeds  to 
devise  all  the  proportions  demanded  in  his  reductions :  — 

Module     Min  Ft.  In. 


, 

I. 

Height  of  base  of  col.   = 

o 

30      = 

i   - 

6 

Column 

2. 

"       "  shaft 

7 

50      = 

Z3  - 

6 

Entire  height 

-3- 

"       "  capital 

i 

IO        = 

3  - 

6 

of  order 

'4- 

"       "  architrave      = 

o 

38   = 

i   - 

10.8 

Entablature" 

5- 

"       "  frieze 

28.5  = 

i   - 

5-1 

*• 

6. 

"       "  cornice          = 

45-5  = 

2    - 

3-3 

Total  height  of  order 

34  - 

1.2 

The  reduced  diameter  of  the  column  is  to  be  54'  ( minutes ) , 
making  the  top  of  the  shaft  two  feet,  eight  and  four-tenths 
inches. 

54 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

In  the  same  manner  he  derives  the  breadth  of  his  portico, 
which  is  to  be  sixteen  modules  or  forty-eight  feet. 

Ft.  In. 

1 .  Intercollonations,  2  diameters  =       6 

2.  Projection  of  Cornice  47^  rnin  —      2  4-65 

3.  Pediment  span  =    52  5.75 

4.  Pediment  height 


Here,  then,  in  his  own  words,  we  have  his  method  of 
deriving  his  proportions  in  transverse  and  vertical  lines. 
Right  or  wrong,  he  concluded  that  these  are  correct  for  an 
entrance  to  his  principal  building. 

Now  out  of  this  space,  as  a  master  of  design  he  sets  about, 
first,  to  secure  to  his  major  purpose  its  requisite  share,  without 
omitting  to  provide  in  a  most  economical  manner  for  his 
minor  demands.  The  upper  two-thirds  with  its  vaulted  dome 
he  devotes  to  his  library,  the  lower  one-third  he  utilizes  in 
two  floors,  each  containing  two  elliptical  rooms  with  ample 
passsage-  and  entrance- ways.  For  the  use  of  his  builders  he 
gives  transverse  and  vertical  sections  of  the  rotunda,  just  as 
he  did  for  the  portico.  Hence,  we  must  conclude  that 
Jefferson  possessed  ability  as  a  designer.  (See  Plates  xv, 

XVI,  XVII.) 

The  second  requisite  of  an  architect  is  his  ability  to  con 
struct.  What  did  Jefferson  know  of  the  properties  of  ma 
terials,  of  the  methods  of  combining  them  ?  What  practical 
experience  had  he  ?  Did  he  conform  to  the  laws  of  scientific 

C  55   1 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

theory  ?    Did  he  correctly  estimate  the  cost  of  material  and 
labor  ? 

All  these  questions  can  be  answered  in  the  affirmative  by 
examination  of  the  same  building.  The  roof  of  this  building 
was  a  sufficient  test  of  his  practical  ability  in  construction. 
This  is  the  manner  in  which  he  accomplished  his  task.  He 
first  drew  the  plan  of  the  roof  giving  the  plates  and  ribs ; 
the  primary  ribs  extending  from  plate  to  crown,  the  second 
ary,  three-quarters  the  way  from  plate  to  crown  heading  in  on 
a  secondary  crown,  the  third  running  one-half  way,  and  the 
fourth  set  running  one-quarter  way.  Here  are  his  own  draw 
ings  and  specifications.  He  says :  — 

The  thickness  of  the  wall  at  top,  to  wit,  at  the  spring  of  the  vault 
of  the  roof  is  22.  in.  On  the  top  of  the  wall  lay  a  curbed  plate,  in 
Delorm's  manner,  consisting  of  4  thicknesses  of  3. in.  each,  22.  in 
wide  pieces  12  ft.  long,  breaking  joints  every  3  ft.  bolted  through 
with  bolts  of  iron,  having  a  nut  and  screw  at  their  ends.  On  this 
curbed  plate  the  ribs  of  the  roof  are  to  rest.  The  ribs  are  to  be  4  in. 
thicknesses  of  one  inch  plank  in  pieces  4  ft.  long,  breaking  joints  at 
every  foot.  They  are  to  be  18  in.  wide,  which  leaves  4  in.  of  the 
plate  for  the  attic  upright  to  rest  on.  The  ribs  are  to  be  keyed  to 
gether  by  cross  boards  at  proper  intervals  for  the  ribs  to  head  in  as 
they  shorten.  The  curb  of  the  sky  light  to  be  made  also  in  Delorm's 
way  but  vertically.  (See  Plate  XVH.) 

Here  is  found  illustrated  a  knowledge  and  a  practical 
application  of  his  ability  in  construction :  a  peculiar  roof 

[  56  ] 


:   One 

composition 


'ornaments  of^e,,  lead 


< 


\$  v^VMttv.ino 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

problem,  which  up  to  that  time  had  not  been  solved  with 
similar  materials  in  America.  His  knowledge  of  the  proper 
ties  of  materials  was  gained  by  a  long  life  of  very  intelligent 
observation  and  very  practical  experience,  to  which  he  added 
scientific  experiment.  He  exposed  chestnut  and  hard  pine 
to  the  weather  in  horizontal,  vertical,  and  inclined  positions 
for  many  years  in  order  to  measure  their  comparative  dura 
bility.  He  personally  examined  brick  construction  in  Lynch- 
burg,  Bedford,  and  elsewhere,  and  contrasted  it  with  that  of 
his  own  county,  some  of  which  he  called  barbarous.  He 
directed  that  his  brick  walls  should  be  laid  throughout  with 
alternate  header  and  stretcher,  not  more  than  two  bats  to  be 
used  with  every  twelve  brick,  and  that  the  joints  should  be 
solidly  and  evenly  jointed  throughout  (not  only  on  the  sur 
face).  That  mortar  must  be  made  of  one  third  sand  and  two 
thirds  lime. 

His  training  in  the  management  of  mechanics,  of  laborers, 
and  in  the  manufacture  of  building  materials  fitted  him  to 
calculate  successfully  the  cost  of  construction.  Further  he 
had  at  hand  Latrobe's  estimate  of  the  cost  of  Philadelphia 
building.  On  the  back  of  each  plan  he  enumerates  the  num 
ber  of  brick  in  each  part  of  the  building  designed,  even  to 
the  number  in  each  column.  From  the  number  of  brick  he 
arrives  at  the  total  cost  of  construction,  as  is  seen  in  the  fol 
lowing  example :  — 

C   59   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

J5  6  v 

£  ffi  B9  S.        O  «S  M 

Foundation               3  -  o          31^  bricks  thick      3            x   42   x    242  =      30,492 

Basement                 7  -  6          3       71^       x    36   x    242  =      65,340 

Lower  rooms         17-               2^4 17           X3ox    242  =    123,420 

To  spring  of  arch  18  -  4^      2        18.4^    x    24   x    242  =    106,608 

To  top  of  wall       12-6          iJ/2 i  2-6       x    1 8    x   242  =      54,450 

The  whole  circular  external  wall    380,3  10 

Front  and  back  buttresses  141  F  area  each 263,275 

2  massive  chimneys  serving  as  buttresses 44,800 

3  semi-elliptical  partitions  2  bricks  thick 108,450 

Shafts  of  12  columns  3  Ft.    x   23  Ft. 796,835 

315,840 
1,112,675 

He  says  in  Philadelphia  they  calculate  roughly  that :  ( i ) 
The  cost  of  brick  walls  as  equal  to  the  cost  of  carpenters' 
work.  (2)  The  cost  of  carpenters'  materials  and  iron 
mongery  as  equal  to  the  cost  of  brick  walls.  He  points  out 
that  this  is  more  expensive  than  in  Virginia  at  that  time. 
These  calculations  are  copied  from  specifications  written  by 
his  own  hand.  There  can  be  no  question,  then,  as  to  his  being 
qualified  to  estimate  the  cost. 

There  remains  the  third  test  to  be  applied  before  con 
clusion  can  be  reached  upon  his  architectural  ability.  It  has 
been  shown  that  he  understood  and  appreciated  the  art  of 
design  and  that  he  possessed  the  ability  to  construct.  What 
ability  did  he  have  to  decorate?  What  were  his  artistic 
powers  ? 

[  <5o  1 

^—  —J 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

If  it  was  assumed  that  the  University  group  was  his  crea 
tion,  no  further  answer  would  be  required  —  they  stand  as 
an  incontestable  proof  of  some  one's  appreciative  and  highly 
developed  artistic  power.  Such  reverence  for  tradition,  and 
such  complete  allegiance  to  the  canons  of  good  taste  he  has 
manifested  in  the  detail  of  his  ornament  for  the  various  units 
of  his  group  and  the  various  architectural  members  of  his 
units,  that  no  critic  has  yet  pointed  out  a  discordant  note  in 
the  harmony  of  his  theme.  Always  a  motif,  but  never  so 
often  occurring  as  to  appear  monotonous  nor  so  infrequent 
as  to  lose  the  air  of  continuity. 

While  he  continuously  had  by  him  Palladio  with  his  best 
types,  he  is  never  afraid  to  depart  from  the  laws  that  au 
thority  works  out;  yet,  when  he  has  once  departed,  the  end 
justifies  the  means.  An  example  of  one  of  his  departures  is 
preserved  in  his  own  words.  What  he  says  in  his  specifica 
tions  for  attic  pilasters  in  his  Theatre  of  Marcellus  is  highly 
interesting ;  he  says  :  — 

I  have  never  seen  an  attic  pilaster,  with  the  measures  of  its  parts 
minutely  expressed  except  that  of  the  Temple  of  Nerva  Trajan. 
That  temple  is  so  overloaded  with  ornament,  and  its  pilaster  frit 
tered  away  so  minutely  in  its  mouldings  as  to  lose  all  effect.  I  have 
simplified  these  mouldings  to  suit  our  plainer  style,  still,  however, 
retaining  nearly  their  general  outlines  and  proportions.  (See  Plate 
XVIH.) 

This  is  not  the  voice  of  one  who  dares  not  walk  alone, 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

but  that  of  one  who,  when  once  having  weighed  the  matter, 
respectfully  gives  his  reasons,  to  be  sure,  but  acts. 

Another  example  of  his  independent  artistic  judgment  is 
seen  in  his  Tuscan  arcade,  which,  almost  with  effrontery, 
pursues  its  way  along  the  boundaries  of  the  lawn,  leaping 
upward  or  diving  downward,  daringly  raps  at  the  doors  of 
each  of  the  three  orders  of  his  classic  temples.  An  archi 
tectural  unit  in  itself  surmounted  by  an  anachronistic  Chi 
nese  balustrade,  what  more  incongruous  in  thought  ?  Yet 
what  more  satisfying  in  beholding?  This  is  not  the  work 
of  a  mere  copyist,  but  of  one  having  within  him  a  feeling  of 
confidence. 

Jefferson's  distance  compensation  in  the  perspective  of  his 
ensemble  was  equally  as  ingenious  and  effective  as  was  that 
of  the  Greeks  who  curved  the  lines  of  their  temple  eaves. 
Standing  in  the  south  rotunda  portico,  looking  down  the 
lawn  each  unit,  while  maintaining  its  relationship,  is  never 
theless  possessed  of  its  individuality.  He  secured  this  by 
geometrically  varying  the  diverging  lines  in  two  directions 
—  horizontal  and  vertical.  Pavilions  I  and  III  and  II  and  IV 
are  spaced  89  feet,  8*4  inches  on  centres ;  III  and  V  and 
IV  and  VI  are  spaced  126  feet,  4^  inches  on  centres;  V 
and  VII  and  VI  and  VIII  are  spaced  143  feet,  6  inches  on 
centres,  and  VII  and  IX  and  VIII  and  X  are  spaced  157 
feet,  i  inch  on  centres.  Thus  he  succeeds  in  holding  apart 


University  of  Virginia  :  Jefferson '.?  Doric  of  the  Theatre  of  Ma rcellus 

(Pavilion  X) 


.  '\u  -y 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

the  visual  lines  as  they  tend  to  approach  each  other  with 
increasing  distance  in  a  horizontal  plane.  While  between 
Pavilions  V  and  VII  and  VI  and  VIII  there  is  a  fall  of  3  feet, 
2  inches,  and  between  Pavilions  VII  and  IX  and  VIII  and  X 
the  fall  is  4  feet,  6  inches,  increasing  the  drop  with  in 
creasing  distance  overcoming  the  tendency  of  vertical  visual 
lines  to  approach  each  other.  In  this  manner  he  secured 
for  a  group  of  buildings  the  same  pleasing  deception  that 
the  Greeks  provided  in  a  single  temple  with  convex  or 
concave  eaves  or  stylobate  in  plan  and  elevation.  A  section 
of  the  lawn  cannot  be  resolved  into  an  inclined  plane 
nor  the  elevation  of  its  units  reduced  to  an  equally  spaced 
grouping. 

Vitruvius,  and  Palladio  after  him,  had  endeavored  to  dis 
cover  some  mathematical  principle  or  exact  expression  for 
the  classic  proportions  manifest  in  the  various  orders.  Col 
umnar  proportions,  for  example,  were  laid  down  as  eight, 
nine,  and  nine  and  one-half  diameters  for  Doric,  Ionic,  and 
Corinthian  respectively.  In  like  manner  proportions  were 
established  for  entablatures  and  inter-columniations.  Pal- 
ladio's  effort  was  a  successful  revolt  against  the  license  then 
rampant  in  European  architecture,  but  being  founded  only 
in  a  half-truth  it  inevitably  led  to  errors  in  an  opposite  di 
rection,  The  proportions  of  the  human  figure  when  enlarged 
into  the  lengths  and  girths  of  a  giant  serve  only  to  magnify 

C  65   ;] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

the  errors  and  obscure  its  harmonies.  Painters  have  less 
often  made  this  mistake.  Michael  Angelo's  David  suffers 
from  mathematical  enlargement,  although  its  proportions 
are  mathematically  correct,  whereas  the  scale  of  his  painted 
figures  has  escaped  criticism.  As  the  treatment  of  St.  Peter's 
held  to  arbitrary  rules  of  proportion  instead  of  multiplying 
its  detail  to  give  grandeur,  the  units  were  proportionately 
enlarged  and  extended,  thus  forcing  upon  the  composition 
such  monstrous  treatment  as  is  seen  even  in  the  vulgar  and 
exaggerated  scale  of  its  Cupids,  which,  like  great  masses  of 
putty,  have  been  slammed  against  the  bases  of  its  columns. 
The  result  has  dwarfed  rather  than  glorified  the  scale  of  the 
composition.  St.  Paul's,  while  more  successful,  endeavored 
to  escape  this  fault  by  the  superposition  one  upon  the  other 
of  its  Corinthian  orders.  Jefferson,  as  an  architect,  discovered 
that  beauty  and  dignity  in  art  refused  to  be  forced  into  arbi 
trary  and  inflexible  moulds ;  that  it  demanded  ease  and 
freedom  of  movement ;  that  while  it  had  a  measurable  body, 
its  spirit  is  not  measurable  by  rule  or  square. 

Vitruvius  and  Palladio  failed  to  discover  a  mathematical 
rule  because  none  existed.  The  better  Roman  architects 
must  have  worked  out  for  each  composition  their  proportions 
in  design,  modelling  in  plan  and  in  elevation  until  theif^siati- 
.cal  eye  could  discover  no  offense  and  until  their  artistic  spirit 
found  peace  and  satisfaction.  It  was  then,  and  not  until  then, 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

that  any  place  was  found  for  measuring  and  for  mathemati 
cal  proportion.  The  Temple  of  Vesta  and  the  columns  of 
Jupiter  Stator  are  the  two  preeminent  and  faultless  examples 
of  the  Corinthian  order,  yet  neither  of  them  conforms  with 
Vitruvius's  dicta  and  neither  has  a  single  proportion  in  com 
mon  with  the  other.  Were  there  a  mathematical  principle, 
architecture  would  be  nothing  more  than  mimicry  and  the 
disciple  only  a  copyist.  There  would  be  no  place  for  genius 
and  the  calling  would  cease  to  be  an  art. 

Some  laws  there  were  (and  are,  to  be  sure)  which  bound 
the  Roman  architect,  laws  with  a  penalty  more  unescapable 
than  any  mathematical  laws  enunciated  by  Vitruvius,  Palladio, 
or  any  archaeological  student.  They  were  laws  of  art  and  not 
of  mathematics.  Therefore  while  Jefferson  drew  his  types 
from  Palladio,  he  did  not  copy  him,  as  is  seen  in  a  few  of 
his  buildings  :  — 

Diameters 

Palladio  and  fitru-viut          Jefferson 

Diocletian  Doric  8.  9.2 

Fortuna  Virilis  Ionic  9.  g.g 

Albano  Doric  8.  8.5 

Theatre  Marcellus  Doric  8.  7.5 

Diocletian  Corinthian  9.5  9.5 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  only  in  one  instance  did  he  follow  the 
mathematical  maxims  of  Palladio  and  that  in  his  Corinthian, 
whereas  in  the  Doric  of  the  Bath  of  Diocletian  he  diverged 
more  than  one  diameter.  These  variations  were  requisite  for 

[   67   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

what  Jefferson  conceived  to  be  perfect  proportions  for  his 
Tetra-style  porticoes,  which  were  of  various  dimensions. 
Examples  of  his  artistic  genius  and  of  his  artistic  execution 
could  be  multiplied  beyond  number.  Those  given  suffice 
the  purpose  of  establishing  his  third  or  artistic  qualifica 
tion. 

Moreover,  remembering  that  this  work  was  executed 
nearly  a  century  ago,  we  could  supply  evidence  of  his  fourth 
qualification  —  that  of  surveyor  and  engineer.  The  lawn 
itself,  with  its  boundaries  and  its  buildings,  was  laid  out 
with  transit  and  level  manipulated  by  the  hand  of  Jefferson. 
Architects  of  to-day  are  saved  from  this  by  later  subdivisions 
of  the  sciences. 

Architecture  was  only  one  of  the  many  human  interests 
with  which  Jefferson  was  identified  in  a  most  distinguished 
manner,  and,  whatever  the  subject,  his  relation  to  it  was  that 
of  a  diligent  and  discriminating  student. 

His  talent  in  drawing,  although  far  inferior  to  the  splendid 
technique  characteristic  of  the  modern  architect's  office,  and 
certainly  very  meagre  as  compared  with  the  yards  upon 
yards  of  blue-prints,  elevations,  sections,  and  full-size  detail, 
is,  however,  despite  these  deficiencies,  which  were  the  limi 
tations  of  the  time  rather  than  the  man,  clear,  expressive, 
and  intelligible.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  the  hand 
guiding  the  pen  was  more  than  seventy-five  years  old. 

C  68  H 


University  of  Virginia  :  Jefferson's  Doric  of  Albano  ;  Present 
Administration  Building  (Pavilion  //7) 


il   number.   Those 
rd   or   art 


wu*\\\  ,'\o  -wvuCl  v/uwvV^A.  •.  urn'r^Vi" A '  \M 
('\Y  \\o'\Vvjttl\)  -^\\s\A\\\V\.  uoi\w\V/.\ \\uvv\A  . 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

Without  the  assistance  of  trained  draftsmen,  a  handicap 
which  he  often  deplored,  he  was  loath  to  copy  work  which 
was  injured  by  error  or  rendered  useless  by  modification,  and, 
as  has  been  mentioned,  this  fact  enables  the  student  of  his 
drawings  to  determine  his  order  of  sequence. 

His  discriminating  selection  of  types,  his  genius  in  com 
bination,  the  pleasurable  exhilaration  he  produces  in  his  dar 
ing  but  successful  contrasts,  the  tranquillity  secured  by  his 
harmony  earn  for  him  an  incontestable  place  among  artistic 
architects. 

That  he  was  able  to  take  such  classic  models  as  the  Temple 
of  Fortuna  Virilis,  the  Temple  of  Cori,  and  the  Pantheon, 
reduce  them,  modify  them,  adjust  them  to  a  new  setting, 
adapt  them  to  a  new  purpose  and  to  a  different  time,  yet 
preserving  with  extreme  fidelity  the  art  in  their  lines  and 
proportions,  will  perpetuate  his  fame  as  an  architect  with 
the  power  of  splendid  critical  judgment.  His  was  not  the 
quickly  grasped  and  drunken  conception  of  the  tyro,  who 
with  a  few  modillions,  triglyphs,  and  metopes, "a  supply  of 
columns,  an  assortment  of  capitals,  and  a  few  hundred  yards 
of  egg  and  dart  moulding,  would  undertake  the  building  of 
an  institution  for  all  men  for  all  time.  Nowhere  does  he 
sacrifice  principle,  practice  rule-of-thumb,  or  bend  to  the 
cheapness  of  expediency.  It  was,  therefore,  with  more  than 
his  usual  characteristic  optimism  that  he  could  disregard  the 

I  71  ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

critical  cant  of  his  own  generation  and  leave  the  final  judg 
ment  concerning  his  buildings  to  future  ages.  He  reports  to 
the  Literary  Board :  — 

It  is  confidently  believed  that  no  considerable  system  of  building 
within  the  U.S.  has  been  done  on  cheaper  terms,  nor  more  correctly, 
faithfully  or  solidly  executed  according  to  the  nature  of  the  material 
used.  That  the  style  or  scale  of  the  buildings  should  have  met  the 
approbation  of  every  individual  judgment  was  impossible  from  the 
various  structure  of  various  minds.  Whether  it  has  satisfied  the 
general  judgment,  is  not  known  to  us,  no  previous  expression  of 
that  was  manifested  but  in  the  injunctions  of  the  law  to  provide  for 
the  accommodation  of  ten  professors  and  a  competent  number  of 
students ;  and  by  the  subsequent  enactments,  implying  an  appro 
bation  of  the  plan  reported  by  the  original  commissioners,  on  the 
requisition  of  the  law  constituting  them ;  which  plan  was  exactly 
that  now  carried  into  execution.  We  had,  therefore,  no  supple 
mentary  guide  but  our  own  judgments,  which  we  have  exercised 
conscientiously,  in  adopting  a  scale  and  style  of  building  believed  to 
be  proportioned  to  the  respectability,  the  means  and  wants  of  our 
country  and  such  as  will  be  approved  in  any  future  condition  it  may 
attain.  We  owed  to  it  to  do,  not  what  was  to  perish  with  ourselves, 
but  what  would  remain,  be  respected  and  preserved  thro  other  ages. 
And  we  fondly  hope  that  the  instruction  which  may  flow  from  this 
institution,  kindly  cherished,  by  advancing  the  minds  of  our  youth 
with  the  growing  science  of  the  times,  and  elevating  the  views  of 
our  citizens  generally  to  the  practice  of  social  duties,  and  the  func 
tions  of  self  government,  may  ensure  to  our  country  the  reputation, 
the  safety  and  prosperity,  and  all  the  other  blessings  which  expe 
rience  proves  to  result  from  the  cultivation  and  improvement  of 
the  general  mind.  And  without  going  into  the  monitory  history 

C  72  ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

of  the  ancient  world,  in  all  its  quarters,  and  at  all  its  periods,  that  of 
the  soil  in  which  we  live,  and  of  its  occupants  indigenous  and  im 
migrant,  teaches  us  the  awful  lesson,  that  no  nation  is  permitted  to 
live  in  ignorance  with  impunity. 

In  these  words,  when  his  plans  were  completed,  he  uttered 
his  prophetic  hope;  his  buildings,  having  now  reached  the 
closing  years  of  their  first  century,  are  only  in  their  youth, 
and  an  appreciative  posterity  answers  him  in  the  affirma 
tive. 

Since  writing  the  chapter  on  the  University  buildings, 
there  has  come  into  the  possession  of  the  author,  through 
Dr.  W.  M.  Randolph,  a  descendant  of  Jefferson,  the  note 
book  used  on  July  18,  1817,  the  day  on  which  Jefferson 
staked  out  his  plan  on  a  virgin  hill.  The  notes  in  this  book 
bear  further  testimony:  that  Jefferson  himself  used  the 
theodolite  and  staked  out  the  plan ;  that  he  had  at  this  time 
constructed  his  square  or  lawn;  and  that  he  modified  the 
natural  fall  into  grades  which  would  accentuate  his  archi 
tectural  perspective.  The  following  is  taken  from  the  first 
page  of  this  notebook :  — 

Operations  at  &for  the  College. 

July  18,  a.  the  place  at  which  the  theodolite  was  fixed  being  the 
center  of  the  Northern  square,  and  the  point  destined 
for  some  principal  building  in  the  level  of  the  square  1. 
m.  n.  o. 

73 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

the  fall  from  a.  to  d.  18  f. 

*from  a.  to  d.  the  bearing  magnetically  S.  21°  W 
add  for  variation 2| 


S.     23j  W 

?  the  true  meridian  was  that  day  2^°  to  left  of  magnetic. 

b.  is  the  center  of  the  middle  square,  and  at 
g.  we  propose  to  erect  our  first  pavilion. 

c.  is  the  center  of  the  Southern  square. 

locust  stakes  were  driven  at  1.  a.  f.     g.  b.  h.  |  i.  c.  k. 
and  at  d.  is  a  pile  of  stones. 

.  each  square  is  to  be  level  within  itself,  with  a  pavilion 
at  each  end  to  writ  at  ef.  gh.  ik.  and  10  dormitories  on 
each  side  of  each  pavilion  filling  up  the  sides  of  the 
squares. 

from  a.  to  b.  was  measured  255.  f.  or  85.  yds.,  b.  c. 
the  same,  &  c.  d.  the  half. 

from  the  points  a.  b.  c.  was  measured  100.  f.  each  way 
to  ef.  gh.  ik.  making  thus  each  square  255  f.  by  200. 

f.  =    .8541  of  an  acre  or  nearly 

2O. 

*  Dec.  7.   19.    I  took  the  bearing  accurately  of  the  range  of  pavilions,  &  found  it 
magnetically  S.  21.  W.  the  variation  of  the  needle  being  that  day  4°  E.  of  the  true  N- 
or  to  the  right,  it  is  probable  that  at  the  operation  of  July  18,  the  merid.  of 
mount'n.  was  inadvertently  consid'd.  as  the  true  one. 

In  the  same  notebook  is  found  an  ingenious  and  interest 
ing  scheme  for  adapting  his  rotunda  dome  to  the  study  of 
astronomy.  He  knew  that  it  was  impossible  to  secure  a  me 
chanic  with  the  mathematical  and  astronomical  training  or 
an  astronomer  with  the  mechanical  training  and  understand- 

C   74   J 


Monticello :  Dining-room  showing  adjoining  Tea  Room 


'V 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

ing  to  appreciate  his  scheme,  so  he  writes  his  directions  so 
plainly  that  he  insures  the  results  desired  whether  the  under 
taker  be  either  a  mechanic  or  an  astronomer.  To  do  this 
he  must  have  understood  mechanics  better  than  the  best 
mechanic  of  his  time,  and  astronomy  as  well  as  the  best 
astronomer.  To  either  proposition  there  are  many  subscribers. 
A  photograph  of  the  page  of  his  notebook  will  be  interest 
ing  in  illustrating  his  ingenuity  in  adapting  a  building  to  as 
tronomical  study.  We  wonder  how  many  architects  of  to-day 
are  prepared  to  attack  similar  problems. 

The  concave  ceiling  of  the  Rotunda  is  proposed  to  be  painted 
sky-blue  and  spangled  with  gilt  stars  in  their  position  and  magni 
tude  copied  exactly  from  any  selected  hemisphere  of  our  latitude. 
A  seat  for  the  Operator  movable  and  fixable  at  any  point  in  the 
concave,  will  be  necessary,  and  means  of  giving  to  every  star  it's 
exact  position. 

Machinery  for  moving  the  Operator. 

a.  b.  c.  d  .  e.  f.  g.  is  the  inner  surface  of  90°  of  the  dome, 
o.  p.  is  a  boom,  a  white  oak  sapling  of  proper  strength,  it's  heel 
working  in  the  centre  of  the  sphere,  by  a  compound  joint  admitting 
motion  in  any  direction,  like  a  ball  and  socket, 
p.  q.  r.  is  a  rope  suspending  the  small  end  of  the  boom,  passing 
over  a  pully  in  the  zenith  at  q.  and  hanging  down  to  the  floor,  by 
which  it  may  be  raised  or  lowered  to  any  altitude, 
at  p.  a  common  saddle,  with  stirrups  is  fixed  for  the  seat  of  the  oper 
ator,  and  seated  on  that,  he  may  by  the  rope  be  presented  to  any 
point  of  the  concave. 

c  77 : 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

Machinery  for  locating  the  stars. 

a.  s.  is  the  horizontal  plane  passing  thro  the  centre  of  the  sphere 
o.  an  annular  ream  of  wood,  of  the  radius  of  the  sphere  must  be 
laid  on  this  plane  and  graduated  to  degrees  and  minutes,  the  gradu 
ation  beginning  in  the  North  rhomb  of  the  place.  Call  this  the 
circle  of  amplitude,  a  moveable  meridian  of  9O°  must  then  be  pro 
vided,  it's  upper  end  moving  on  a  pivot  in  the  zenith,  it's  lower  end 
resting  on  the  circle  of  amplitude,  this  must  be  made  of  thin  flexible 
white  oak  like  the  ream  of  a  cotton  spinning  wheel,  and  fixed  in 
it's  curvature,  in  a  true  quadrant  by  a  similar  lath  of  white  oak  as  it's 
chord  a.  n.  their  ends  made  fast  together  by  clamps.  This  flexible 
meridian  may  be  of  6  I.  breadth,  and  graduated  to  degrees  and 
minutes. 

The  zenith  distance  and  amplitude  of  every  star  must  then  be  ob 
tained  from  the  astronomical  tables,  place  the  foot  of  the  moveable 
meridian  in  that  of  the  North  rhomb  of  the  place,  and  the  polar  star 
at  it's  zenith  distance,  and  so  of  every  other  star  of  that  meridian ; 
then  move  the  foot  to  another  meridian  at  a  convenient  interval, 
mark  it's  star  by  their  zenith  distance,  and  so  go  round  the  circle. 
bh.  ci.  dk.  el.  fm.  are  braces  of  window  cord  for  keeping  the  merid 
ian  in  it's  true  curve. 

perhaps  the  rope  had  better  be  attached  to  the  boom  at  s.  instead  of 
p.  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  operator,  perhaps  also  the  chord  board 
an.  had  better  present  it's  edge  to  the  meridian  than  it's  side. 

if  the  meridian  ark  and  it's  chord  be  6  I.  wide  &  1/2  I.  thick  they 
will  weigh  about  135  Ib.  and  consequently  be  easily  manageable. 

if  the  boom  op.  be  35  f.  long,  6  I.  at  the  but  and  3.  I.  at  the 
small  end,  it  will  weigh  about  100  Ib.  and  be  manageable  also. 

While  much  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  renown  as  an  architect 
rests  upon  the  success  he  attained  in  his  monumental  struc- 

C  78   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

tures,  he  was  not  neglectful  of  obligation  in  those  of  less 
spectacular  importance.  As  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  before  whom  passed  with  the  day's  work  a  panorama 
of  problems  of  national  and  absorbing  interest,  he  found 
time  to  reflect  upon  the  erection  of  chicken  coops  at  his  Pan- 
tops  farm.  He  is  unwilling  to  permit  his  granddaughter  to 
erect  a  henhouse  until  the  following  summer  when  he  shall 
have  time  to  attend  to  its  planning.  In  the  construction  of 
his  own  and  his  overseer's  offices  he  bestows  upon  them  the 
same  absorbing  attention  as  in  the  construction  of  Monti- 
cello.  He  is  careful  to  force  them  into  their  proper  spheres, 
by  making  the  art  of  architecture  proclaim  and  symbolize 
their  function.  They  possess  a  dignity,  but  a  dignity  in  har 
mony  with  their  service.  It  was  under  such  varied  conditions 
that  the  brilliancy  of  his  architectural  genius  shone.  He  used 
architecture  for  other  purposes  than  shelter  or  gratifica 
tion  of  the  love  of  beauty.  Always  before  him  is  the  "eter 
nal  fitness  of  things."  His  structures  announce  their  office 
with  characteristic  emphasis.  A  money-changer  is  a  useful 
institution,  but  his  vocation  is  not  to  be  followed  in  the 
temple.  He  knew  that  the  architecture  of  a  church  or 
chapel  protected  the  structure  and  guaranteed  its  sanctity  and 
that  a  barn  on  palatial  lines  cannot  fail  to  jar  the  aesthetic 
sense. 

Just  before  his  death,  but  after  he  had  completed  all  the 

r.  79 : 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

plans  for  his  democratic  University,  he  began  the  considera 
tion  of  plans  for  an  astronomical  observatory.  As  in  all  other 
problems  he  sought  the  experience  of  mankind.  After  con 
sulting  the  plans  of  all  the  then  existing  similar  structures, 
he  commenced  his  rough  draft  ( see  Plate  XX ) .  On  the  back 
of  the  drawing  he  wrote  his  specifications.  They  are  worthy 
of  study,  for  they  also  give  evidence  of  his  knowledge  of 
construction. 

The  4  angular  rooms  of  this  drawing  are  18  f.  diam.  in  the  clear 
&  1 8  f.  high .  This  dimension  determines  all  the  others .  For  an  Observ 
atory  the  material  attentions  are  1 .  that  it  be  so  solid  in  it's  construc 
tion,  with  a  foundation  and  walls  so  massive  as  not  to  be  liable  to 
tremble  with  the  wind,  walking,  etc.  2.  That  it  have  ample  aper 
tures  in  every  direction.  3.  That  it  have  some  one  position  per 
fectly  solid  which  may  command  the  whole  horizon  and  heavens ; 
with  a  cupola  cover,  moveable  and  high  enough  to  protect  long 
telescopes  from  the  weather.  As  to  height  of  the  building,  the  less 
the  solider.  The  Observatories  in  the  considerable  cities  of  Europe 
are  high  of  necessity  to  overlook  the  buildings  of  the  place.  That 
of  Paris  is  8O.f.  high,  but  so  much  the  worse,  if  avoidable.  In  the 
design  on  the  other  side,  the  body  of  the  building  is  surrounded  with 
a  terras  of  70. f.  square,  4£  f.  high,  to  be  filled  solidly  with  stone 
laid  dry  and  compact,  and  paved,  all  the  rooms  of  the  building  are 
to  be  filled  compactly  with  stone,  in  like  manner  to  the  floors,  which 
should  be  paved,  the  doors  of  the  4  passages  to  be  arched  in  order 
to  unite  the  4  octagon  rooms  together,  and  to  form  them  into  one 
solid  body,  all  the  walls  to  be  2j  bricks  thick,  those  of  the  middle 
rooms  to  be  vaulted  together  at  top,  and  the  hollow  between  the 
hemisphere  and  the  square  of  the  walls  to  be  honeycombed  with 

C  80  ] 


Monticello :    The  Dining-room 


•  iw*n-^wu\\(\  °> 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

cross  arches  their  crowns  being  made  strait  and  level  with  the  crown 
of  the  vault,  this  should  rise  a  little  above  the  top  of  the  roof,  so  as 
to  give  a  solid  paved  terras  on  the  top  which  may  command  the 
whole  horison.  the  Cupola  cover  should  have  a  cylindrical  body  of 
thin  light  frame  work  moveable  on  pulley  wheels  at  bottom  in  a  cir 
cular  groove,  the  top  a  hollow  hemisphere,  lightly  ribbed  and  cov 
ered  with  tin,  the  two  together  high  enough  to  cover  a  long  refrac 
tor,  of  15  f.  for  example,  this  moveable  cover  should  be  cut  vertically 
into  2.  halves  from  top  to  bottom,  and  the  radius  of  one  half  should 
be  less  than  that  of  the  other,  and  move  in  an  inner  groove  so  that 
one  may  be  shut  into  the  other,  leaving  half  of  the  vault  of  the 
heavens  open  to  view,  thus,  over  the  wall  of  the  mural  quadrant 
must  be  a  fissure  in  the  roof  closed  with  shutters  water  tight. 

This  building  is  proposed  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  the  Astron 
omical  professor  and  his  school,  and  should  be  placed  on  the  near 
est  site  proper  for  it,  &  convenient  to  the  University,  the  hill  on 
which  the  old  buildings  stand  seems  to  be  the  best. 

The  mountain  belonging  to  the  University  was  purchased  with  a 
view  to  a  permanent  establishment  of  an  Observatory,  witli  an  As 
tronomer  resident  at  it,  employed  solely  in  the  business  of  Observa 
tion,  but  I  believe  a  site  on  the  nearest  mountain  in  the  S.  W.  ridge, 
Montalto  for  example  would  be  better,  because  of  it's  command  of 
the  fine  horison  to  the  East. 

On  the  margin  of  this  plan  he  portrays  his  sterling  hon 
esty.  After  having  drawn  them  he  found  a  scheme  better 
adapted  to  the  function,  so  he  stamps  upon  his  own  scheme 
his  emphatic  condemnation  in  these  words :  — 

See  an  infinitely  better  plan  by  Hassler  in  the  Am.  Philosoph. 

C   83   3 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

transaction,  new  series,  vol  II.  PI.   X  1825.    See  Observatory  of 
Paris  2.  Miliria.  p. A;  187  PI  IX. c 

The  writer  has  had  much  practical  experience  with  the 
architects  of  to-day  and  has  found  them  exceptionally  sincere 
in  being  willing  to  surrender  the  wrong  and  grasp  the  cor 
rect,  quick  to  abandon  their  own  error  and  follow  another's 
truth,  but  he  is  not  sure  that  in  making  the  transition  they 
would,  all  of  them,  tarry  long  enough  to  put  the  stamp  of 
their  own  condemnation  upon  their  own  work. 

Jefferson's  interest  in  art  and  monumental  architecture  is 
clearly  'portrayed  in  his  letter  to  the  Comtesse  de  Tesse 
while  on  a  tour  through  Southern  France.  It  also  discloses  in 
words,  as  the  University  buildings  proclaim  in  works,  his  slant 
toward  the  Roman  art. 

NISMES,  March  2Oth   1787. 

Here  I  am,  Madam,  gazing  whole  hours  at  the  Maison  Quarree, 
like  a  lover  at  his  mistress.  The  stocking  weavers  and  silk-spinners 
around  it  consider  me  as  a  hypochondriac  Englishman,  about  to 
write  with  a  pistol  the  last  chapter  of  his  history.  This  is  the  second 
time  I  have  been  in  love  since  I  left  Paris.  The  first  was  with  a 
Diana  at  the  Chateau  de  Laye-Espinaye  in  Beaujolais,  a  delicious 
morsel  of  sculpture,  by  M.  A.  Slodtz.  This  you  will  say,  was  in 
rule,  to  fall  in  love  with  a  female  beauty  ;  but  with  a  house !  It  is 
out  of  all  precedent.  No,  madam,  it  is  not  without  a  precedent  in 
my  own  history.  While  in  Paris,  I  was  violently  smitten  with  the 
Hotel  de  Salm,  and  used  to  go  to  the  Fisheries  almost  daily  to 
look  at  it.  The  loueuse  des  chaises  —  inattentive  to  my  passion  - 

[   84   ] 


Monticello :  Dining-room  mantel  showing  concealed  dumb-waiter  for 
wine  connected  with  basement 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

never  had  the  complaisance  to  place  a  chair  there,  so  that  sitting  on 
the  parapet,  and  twisting  my  neck  around  to  see  the  object  of  my 
admiration,  I  generally  left  it  with  a  torti-coli. 

From  Lyons  to  Nismes  I  have  been  nourished  with  the  remains 
of  Roman  grandeur.  They  have  always  brought  you  to  my  mind 
because  I  know  your  affection  for  whatever  is  Roman  and  noble. 
At  Vienne  I  thought  of  you.  But  I  am  glad  you  were  not  there; 
for  you  would  have  seen  me  more  angry  than,  I  hope,  you  will  ever 
see  me.  The  Praetorian  Palace  as  it  is  called — comparable,  for  its 
fine  proportions,  to  the  Maison  Quarree  —  defaced  by  the  barbari 
ans  who  have  converted  it  to  its  present  purpose,  its  beautiful  fluted 
corinthian  columns  cut  out,  in  part,  to  make  space  for  Gothic  win 
dows,  and  hewed  down,  in  the  residue,  to  the  plane  of  the  building, 
was  enough,  you  must  admit,  to  disturb  my  composure.  At  Orange, 
too,  I  thought  of  you.  I  was  sure  you  had  seen  with  pleasure  the 
sublime  triumphal  arch  of  Marius  at  the  entrance  to  the  city.  I  went 
then  to  the  Arenas.  Would  you  believe,  Madam,  that  in  this  eight 
eenth  century,  in  France  under  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.,  they  are 
at  this  moment  pulling  down  the  circular  wall  of  this  superb  remain, 
to  pave  a  road  ?  And  that,  too,  from  a  hill  which  is  itself  an  entire 
mass  of  stone,  just  as  fit,  and  more  accessible  ! 

An  evidence  of  Jefferson's  resourcefulness  is  seen  in  his 
plan  and  specifications  for  a  bell-clock  which  would  work 
automatically.  This  must  be  arranged  so  that  the  bell  can  be 
struck  by  the  operation  of  the  clock  machinery  and  yet  it 
must  be  possible  for  the  bell-ringer  voluntarily  to  ring  it  at 
any  hour.  He  secures  this  feature  by  fixing  the  bell  so  as  to 
prevent  its  motion  from  disturbing  the  hammers  within  it. 

C  87   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

one  of  which  is  connected  to  the  clock  machinery  by  a  wire 
and  moves  in  one  plane  to  make  its  stroke,  the  other  is  at 
tached  to  a  bell-rope  to  be  voluntarily  operated  by  the  bell- 
ringer,  and  moves  in  a  plane  at  right  angles  to  the  other.  His 
rough  sketch  will  make  his  mechanism  plain.  (See  Plate 
XXI.)  He  calculates  the  spaces  in  its  dial  for  hours  and 
minutes,  determines  the  length  of  the  pendulum,  improvises 
a  ratchet  key  for  its  winding,  specifies  the  weights  for  its 
momentum  and  details  the  mechanism  for  its  escapement. 
The  clock  operated  perfectly  until  it  was  destroyed  in  the 
fire  of  1895.  Will  another  survive  so  long? 

It  is  not  easy  for  those  of  our  time  to  appreciate  the  many 
and  the  varied  character  of  the  difficulties  that  confronted 
Jefferson  in  his  building  operations. 

The  settlement  at  Charlottesville  was  too  small  to  give  aid 
in  the  way  of  mechanics'  or  of  builders'  supplies,  conse 
quently  nearly  every  article  for  such  purposes  and  even 
many  of  those  things  needed  in  everyday  life  must  be  made 
upon  the  farm.  He  taught  some  of  the  negroes  to  become 
good  cabinetmakers,  carpenters,  stonecutters,  bricklayers, 
and  blacksmiths.  He  employed  the  pickaninnies  in  a  minia 
ture  nail  factory,  which,  beside  supplying  nails  for  his  own 
use,  furnished  a  surplus  to  be  sold  for  profit  in  the  neighbor 
ing  village.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  he  stimulated  am 
bition  by  keeping  in  operation  a  system  of  rewards,  distinc- 

C   88   ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

tions,  and  promotions  amongst  those  in  the  handicrafts.  He 
sought  out  his  own  clay  and  made  moulds  for  his  brick  after 
providing  for  shrinkage  in  burning.  He  personally  investi 
gated  the  native  woods  as  to  color,  durability,  and  adapta 
bility  to  the  various  building  purposes.  He  experimented 
with  mortar,  seeking  to  produce  one  that  would  stand  the 
dampness  of  underground  tunnels  and  basement  walls.  He 
tried  all  manner  of  mixtures  of  lime,  sand,  and  oils.  He  knew 
it  could  be  done,  for  the  Romans  had  left  the  Cloaca  Maxima 
as  evidence.  His  conclusions  were,  in  his  own  words,  "  i 
bushel  each  of  lime,  wood  ashes  and  pulverized  bricks 
brought  to  the  proper  consistence  will  harden  in  water,"  as 
he  left  them  on  the  margin  of  a  sheet  of  notes  to  his  builders. 
That  it  did  harden,  all  the  plumbers  and  steam-fitters  who 
have  had  to  cut  through  his  basement  walls  will  testify.  The 
oxide  of  lime  with  the  potash  which  came  from  his  burned 
wood  ashes  and  his  silica  and  alumina  from  his  incinerated 
bricks  gave  the  chemicals  which  the  modern  man  has  dis 
covered  are  requisite  for  hydraulic  cement,  in  which  the  fol 
lowing  reaction  is  supposed  to  take  place :  — 

CaO  +  H2O  ==  Ca  (HO)2 

3Ca  (HO)2  +  SiO2  ==  Ca3SiOs  +  2H2O. 

He  discovered  that  kiln-drying  lumber  injured  its  quality, 
made  it  brittle,  and  favored  splintering ;  for  this  reason  he 

C   89   3 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

specified  that  all  flooring  and  finishing  for  cornices,  windows, 
and  inside  trim  should  be  air-dried  for  two  years  and  followed 
by  one  year's  seasoning  under  shelter.  He  directed  the 
method  by  which  his  carpenter's  glue  was  to  be  made  from 
fresh  hides  in  a  pot  which  itself  must  rest  in  another  pot  of 
boiling  water,  in  order,  as  he  says,  that  the  adhesiveness  may 
not  be  lost  by  excessive  heat,  and  that  scorching  may  not 
destroy  its  light  color.  He  made  up  his  own  mind  about 
mixing  paints  and  if  nineteen  and  one-half  pounds  measured 
more  than  a  gallon  he  insisted  on  further  stirring. 

Such  as  essayed  to  do  the  work  of  the  architect  during 
Jefferson's  time  were  only  amateurs,  who  with  an  itinerant 
habit  migrated  from  place  to  place,  to  the  seat  of  construction, 
because  they  were  never  able  to  communicate  their  ideas  by 
either  verbal  or  graphic  instruction.  They  were  in  fact  builder- 
architects  who  did  not  foresee  difficulties,  but  attempted  the 
solution  of  building  problems  only  as  they  arose.  Jefferson, 
on  the  other  hand,  while  he  never  neglected  personal  super 
vision,  communicated  his  ideas  in  such  exact  terms,  and  in 
such  order  of  succession,  that  if  faithful  adherence  was  observed 
the  building  in  his  mind  would  result  and  none  other.  No  word 
was  ever  written  which  could  be  omitted,  and  none  which 
was  left  out  could  be  added  without  endangering  the  success 
ful  achievement  of  the  conception. 

In  1792,  when  the  United  States,  a  fledgling  nation,  found 

C  9°  3 


Monticello  :  JFedgeuxxxi  insets,  one  of  the  side  pieces  in  dining-room 
mantel  and  the  central  piece 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

itself  in  need  of  governmental  buildings,  advertised  for  plans 
for  a  national  "Capitol,"  a  great  number  were  offered,  pre 
pared  by  those  who  were  anxious  to  secure  the  prize  of  five 
hundred  dollars  and  a  city  lot,  Hoban,  Thornton,  and  "  Judge 
Turner  "  being  among  the  contestants.  The  winner  was  Wil 
liam  Thornton.  We  assume  that  the  victor  presented  the  best 
plans  of  the  best  building,  yet  history  records  that  the  victo 
rious  plans  were  not  plans  at  all  —  only  perspective  sketches, 
such  as  from  which  any  one  of  forty  different  buildings  might 
have  been  constructed.  There  were  neither  ground  plans, 
elevation,  nor  sections,  but  only  pictures  which  the  Com 
missioners  were  forced  to  choose  from.  It  would  be  as  unfair 
to  contrast  the  work  of  the  professed  architect  of  that  time 
with  the  work  of  a  powerfully  trained  mind  like  Jefferson's 
as  it  would  be  to  pit  the  pygmy  against  the  giant. 

The  abiding  integrity  of  Jefferson's  building  operations, 
his  honesty  in  construction,  his  resourcefulness  in  the  com 
bination  of  materials,  his  ingenuity  in  their  adaptation,  his 
accurate  observation,  his  scientific  slant  of  mind,  his  versatility 
in  information,  his  powers  of  discrimination,  his  sense  of 
proportion,  all  combined  with  a  bigness  of  mind  and  an  artistic 
temperament,  lifted  him  at  once  as  an  architect  from  compe 
tition  with  all  his  contemporaries. 

In  his  main  hall  at  Monticello,  Jefferson  could  face  the  embers 
in  his  grand  fireplace,  watch  the  laborers  on  his  Pantops  farm, 

I  93  H 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

observe  the  direction  of  the  wind  which  by  his  ingenuity  was 
registered  in  the  ceiling  of  his  portico,  read  the  atmospheric 
pressure  on  a  barometer  constructed  by  his  own  hands,  com 
pare  the  external  and  internal  temperature  on  a  double  ther 
mometer  from  his  own  specifications,  and  observe  the  hour 
on  the  face  of  the  great  hall  clock,  whose  pendulum,  escape 
ment,  weights,  and  regulators  were  built  under  his  personal 
directions. 

To  be  sure  it  would  be  unfair  to  expect  the  specialized 
architect  of  our  day  to  embody  in  his  equipment  such  varied 
qualifications  as  the  old  statesman-architect  possessed,  just  as 
it  would  be  unfair  to  demand  of  Jefferson  such  splendid  detail 
as  the  modern  specialized  architect  offers.  Yet  out  of  the  con 
tinuous  stream  of  architects  who  pass  his  work  in  review, 
not  one  has  departed  without  paying  a  graceful  tribute  to  his 
supremacy.  Stanford  White,  when  asked  why  he  did  not  locate 
his  buildings  nearer  the  old  Jefferson  group,  replied  in  all 
sincerity  that  such  temerity  must  be  reserved  for  a  more 
audacious  architect. 

It  is  a  tribute  to  the  profession  of  our  own  generation  that, 
notwithstanding  the  development  of  their  science  and  the 
specialization  of  their  tasks,  they  maintain  a  reverence  for 
those  who  labored  under  the  limiting  conditions  of  the  past. 
And  nowhere  in  their  history  have  they  found  a  figure  stand 
ing  for  a  higher  truth  or  maintaining  a  nobler  ideal.  As  future 

C  94  ] 


Jefferson  as  an  Architect 

generations  of  architects,  reviewing  and  in  review,  file  past 
his  work,  they  will  bare  their  heads  to  his  fidelity  to  their 
art,  acknowledge  him  as  the  pioneer  in  an  infant  profession, 
and  with  one  acclaim  hail  the  Godfather  of  the  American 
Architect. 


Thomas  Jefferson 
As  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 


BY 


WARREN  H.  MANNING 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON 

As  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

MR.  JEFFERSON'S  writings,  his  University  of  Virginia,  his 
Monticello,  give  unmistakable  evidence  of  his  appreciation 
of  landscape,  of  the  value  of  buildings  as  elements  of  land 
scape,  and  of  the  relation  that  they  should  bear  to  the  topog 
raphy  and  to  the  outlook  of  a  site. 

Had  he  not  loved  and  appreciated  landscape,  he  would  not 
have  said,  "  And  our  own  dear  Monticello,  where  Nature  has 
spread  such  a  rich  mantle  under  the  eye,  mountains,  forests, 
rocks,  rivers.  There  is  a  mountain  there  in  the  opposite  di 
rection  of  the  afternoon's  sun,  the  valley  between  which  and 
Monticello,  is  five  hundred  feet  deep."  "  How  sublime  to  look 
down  upon  the  workhouse  of  Nature  to  see  her  clouds,  hail, 
snow,  rain,  thunder,  all  fabricated  at  our  feet." 

In  his  outline  of  the  University  curriculum  in  the  letter  of 
September  7,  1814,  to  Peter  Carr,  President  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  he  designated  as  his  third  division,  Professional 
Grades,  stating  that  to  the  Professional  School  would  come 
among  others,  the  "  agricultor  " ;  to  the  Department  of  Rural 
Economy,  the  gentleman,  the  architect,  the  pleasure  gardener, 
painter,  and  musician.  In  the  School  of  Fine  Arts  he  included 

C  99  ] 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

Gardening,  Painting,  Sculpture,  Civil  Architecture,  and  the 
Theory  of  Music. 

Thus  in  the  educational  forecast  of  his  greatest  monument, 
the  University  of  Virginia,  and  in  the  design  of  his  home  as 
indicated  elsewhere,  does  Jefferson  recognize  the  broader 
phases  of  landscaping  which  at  that  time  was  no  more  clearly 
differentiated  in  the  popular  mind,  from  gardening,  architect 
ure,  horticulture,  or  engineering,  than  it  is  to-day. 

In  Mr.  Jefferson's  day,  the  most  important  constructive 
work  of  his  century,  as  well  as  the  classics  of  the  profession 
that  deals  with  landscape,  was  being  produced  in  England  by 
such  practitioners  and  writers  as  Repton,  Kent,  Price,  Gilpin, 
Pope,  and  Addison.  Of  the  books  then  produced,  the  late 
Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  the  master  mind  of  this  profession 
in  America,  first  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  students  Wheatley's 
"Observations  on  Modern  Gardening."  With  this  book  in 
hand,  Mr.  Jefferson  made  "A  tour  to  some  of  the  English 
gardens"  in  March  and  April,  1776,  made  "chiefly,"  he 
states,  "  for  such  practical  things  as  might  enable  me  to  esti 
mate  the  expenses  of  making  and  maintaining  a  garden  of 
that  style."  He  says  that  Wheatley's  descriptions  "are,  in 
point  of  style,  models  of  perfect  elegance  and  classical  cor 
rectness;  they  are  as  remarkable  for  their  exactness."  Mr. 
Jefferson,  in  his  own  description  of  these  gardens,  intelligently 
and  discriminatingly  comments  upon  the  merits  and  defects 

C  10°  3 


Monticello :   Ihst  elevation  showing  roof  of  underground  passage  (at 
left)  leading  to  servants'*  quarter* 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

of  the  English  landscapes  and  the  buildings  therein,  as  he  did 
in  earlier  notes  on  travels  in  France. 

There  was  included  with  this  knowledge  and  appreciation 
of  the  fine  arts,  a  practical  interest  in  and  an  intimate  know 
ledge  of  the  mechanical  devices  and  methods,  and  the  materials 
used  in  the  construction  of  buildings  and  landscapes.  The 
sketches  in  his  notes  of  travel,  his  letters  to  friends,  his  minute 
instructions  to  his  farm  superintendent  regarding  the  farming 
and  manufacturing  at  his  Monticello,  and  the  plans  and  direc 
tions  for  the  construction  of  the  University  made  with  his  own 
hands,  give  abundant  evidence  of  this.  He  was  a  skillful  sur 
veyor,  too,  for  he  in  person  surveyed  and  drew  the  plans  of 
his  own  estates  and  the  University  site.  His  engineering 
knowledge  enabled  him  to  bring  the  University  water-sup 
ply  from  basins  fed  with  surface  and  spring  water  "  in  wooden 
pipes  from  the  neighboring  high  lands,"  and  also  to  seek  for 
a  contingent  supply,  as  indicated  by  his  inquiries  "for  a  per 
son  acquainted  with  the  art  of  boring  for  water  to  immense 
depths.  We  have  occasion  for  such  an  artist  at  our  University." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  interest  in  city  planning  is  also  indicated  in 
his  letter  of  February  8,  1805,  in  which  he  refers  to  yellow 
fever  as  originating  in  low,  ill-cleansed  parts  of  the  town 
and  suggests  a  "checker-board  plan"  in  which  "black 
squares  only  to  be  building  squares,  and  the  white  ones  to  be 
open  in  turf  and  trees."  "I  have  accordingly  proposed  that 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

the  enlargement  of  New  Orleans  which  must  immediately 
take  place  shall  be  upon  this  plan." 

That  Mr.  Jefferson's  "garden"  and  "gardening"  repre 
sented  in  his  mind  what  we  term  "  landscape,"  is  indicated 
by  the  statement  in  his  "traveling  notes"  of  June  3,  1788, 
to  young  friends  who  were  going  abroad ;  "  Gardens  [are] 
peculiarly  worth  the  attention  of  an  American,  because  it  is 
the  country  of  all  others  where  the  noblest  gardens  may  be 
made  without  expense.  We  have  only  to  cut  out  the 
superabundant  plants." 


MONTICELLO 


The  most  notable  example  of  Jefferson's  own  cutting  out 
of  the  super-abundant  plants  to  make  a  landscape  is  to  be 
observed  on  the  road  through  his  estate  from  Charlottesville 
to  Monticello.  This  road,  after  leaving  the  village,  crosses  a 
tree-arched  stream,  then  follows  its  shore  for  some  distance 
before  beginning  its  hillside  climb.  At  a  point  a  little  more 
than  halfway  up  to  the  saddle  of  the  ridge  which  is  termi 
nated  by  Monticello  is  one  spot  which  I  conceive  was  sought 
out  by  Jefferson  with  much  woods  tramping  and  tree-climb 
ing  to  establish  viewpoints.  Here  the  steep  forested  hill 
side  towers  uphill  above  you,  and  grassy  fields  fall  steeply 
downhill  away  from  you.  To  the  right  is  the  edge  of  the 
Monticello  thirty-acre  hilltop  forest,  from  which  Mr.  Jeffer- 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

son  refused  to  allow  the  cutting  of  trees  in  his  day,  but 
which  was  cut,  together  with  many  of  his  lawn  trees,  be 
fore  1835  by  Barkley  before  it  was  purchased  by  Lieutenant 
Uriah  Levy.  The  edge  of  the  forest  touched  just  the  right  point 
on  the  horizon,  and  its  height  increased  the  depth  of  the 
valley  below.  To  the  left,  a  narrow  strip  of  trees  was  left 
on  the  steep  roadside  bank.  Well  out  and  down  the  slope, 
and  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  picture  centre,  is  a  group  of 
tall  trees  with  branches  sweeping  up  and  out  in  a  quick  grace 
ful  curve  that  repeats  the  down  sweeps  of  the  grassy  base  of 
the  knoll  on  which  they  stand.  At  the  foot  of  the  long  slope 
winds  the  tree- fringed  thread  of  the  creek.  Then  come  houses 
smothered  in  the  trees  of  the  valley.  All  this  is  the  frame, 
the  foreground,  the  middle  distance  with  the  range  of  the 
mountains  against  the  sky.  These  mountains  are  made  to 
appear  very  high  by  this  view  over  the  deep  valley  and  its 
steep  slopes,  and  between  a  flaring  frame  of  tall  trees,  whereas 
over  flat  land  from  the  same  elevation  they  would  have  been 
rather  unimpressive  high  hills. 

The  road  from  here  soon  passes  into  the  woods,  and  to 
the  entrance  lodge  that  lies  in  the  saddle  of  the  ridge.  From 
here  there  is  a  rather  steep  climb  on  a  great  curve  through 
a  wood  with  a  Scotch  broom  undergrowth  by  Jefferson's 
monument  to  his  home.  Not  far  from  the  lodge  the  return 
branch  road,  recently  constructed,  is  passed  on  the  right,  but 

105 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

its  point  of  departure  and  angle  are  so  skillfully  taken  off 
from  the  direct  uphill  road  that  one  is  not  likely  to  notice  it 
at  all  in  going  up.  So,  too,  is  the  return  road  taken  off  from 
the  inward  approach  soon  after  leaving  the  house  and  gardens. 
This  down  road  winds  around  the  slope  and  by  the  head  of 
a  small  valley  to  the  intersection  point  near  the  gate  lodge. 
Both  roads  and  the  views  therefrom  lie  wholly  within  the 
thirty-acre  woods,  for  Jefferson  reserved  his  next  fine  views 
for  the  house  site.  These  views  include  three  great  valleys 
with  the  Blue  Ridge  twenty-five  miles  away,  the  course  of 
which  marks  the  horizon  for  eighty  miles  in  view,  as  well  as 
the  Ragged  Mountains  on  the  south  in  the  approach-road  view. 
The  house  is  located  just  far  enough  back  from  the  point 
of  the  ridge  summit  to  make  way  for  a  sweep  of  gently 
sloping  lawn  where  a  large  party  of  people  and  their  vehicles 
could  gather,  turn,  and  move  about.  This  was  made  dis 
tinctly  the  entrance  side  of  the  house.  The  house  main  floor 
elevation  was  fixed  at  a  point  where  its  occupants  could  look 
over  a  lawn  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  wide  and  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  feet  long.  From  near  its  floor  level,  platforms 
extend  east  and  west  to  the  edge  of  the  retaining  wall  that 
holds  a  part  of  the  south  lawn  quadrangle  in  place.  This 
retaining  wall  extends  back  to  office  building  terminals  on 
each  side,  beyond  which  the  lawn  surface  merges  into  the 
natural  slope.  Along  the  face  of  the  west  part  of  the  retaining 

106 


Monticello :    Tunnel  connecting  the  basement  of  the  main  building  with 

servants1  quarters 


\  V 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

wall  was  storage  space.  Along  the  face  of  the  east  part  are 
the  servants'  quarters,  and  to  each  of  these  apartments  went 
passages  from  the  house  basement  under  the  platform.  At 
the  ends  of  these  platforms  were  outlook  points  from  which 
are  magnificent  views,  west,  north,  and  east,  into  valleys  and 
on  to  distant  hills. 

From  the  point  where  the  two  roads  through  the  woods 
meet  near  the  south  end  of  the  lawn,  the  drive  passed  on  a  di 
rect  and  level  line,  by  the  ivy-covered  ruins  of  old  buildings, 
then  by  the  terraced  kitchen  garden  on  the  steep  easterly 
slope  at  the  right,  and  then  on  to  the  farm.  These  kitchen 
gardens  were  constructed  mostly  during  the  period  when 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  President  of  the  United  States.  His  over 
seer  states  that  there  were  grown  here  "  vegetables  of  all 
kinds,  figs,  grapes,  and  the  greatest  variety  of  fruit."  On  the 
west  of  this  entrance  road  as  it  passed  the  house,  the  terrace 
at  the  servants'  quarter  level  was  high  enough  up  above  the 
road  so  that  activities  thereon  could  be  screened  from  visit 
ors  on  foot  or  in  vehicle  by  a  low  hedge. 

The  sunny  south  lawn  was  the  home  lawn  where  Jeffer 
son  and  his  family  were  completely  protected  from  the  in 
trusion  of  visitors  who  might  come  in  by  the  only  entrance 
road. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  further  in  the  description  of 
Monticello  to  show  this  man's  genius  as  a  designer  of  a 

C 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

notable  home  estate  plan,  except  to  say  that  he  gave  as  much 
attention  to  the  tree  and  shrub  planting  as  to  other  features. 
Captain  Edmund  Bacon,  who  for  twenty  years  was  the  Monti- 
cello  overseer,  received  such  written  instructions  as  these: 
Plant  "  four  Purple  Beeches  in  the  clumps  which  are  in  the 
southwest  and  northwest  angles  of  the  houses.  The  places 
will  be  known  by  the  sticks  marked  No.  IV."  There  were 
similar  notes  regarding  "Robinias,  or  Red  Locust,"  "  Prickly 
Ash,"  "  Thorns  for  Hedges,  Fruit  Trees,  Pecan  Nuts,"  and 
"Some  turfs  of  a  particular  grass."  Bacon  states  that  Mr. 
Jefferson  always  knew  everything  in  every  part  of  his 
grounds  and  garden,  the  name  of  every  tree  and  just  where 
one  was  dead  or  missing.  He  also  states  that  the  grounds 
about  the  house  were  most  beautifully  ornamented  with 
flowers  and  shrubbery.  There  were  walks  and  borders  of 
flowers,  some  of  them  in  bloom  from  early  in  the  spring 
until  late  in  the  winter,  and  a  good  many  were  foreign. 

The  development  of  the  home  estate  plan  and  the  building 
of  the  house  extended  over  a  thirty-year  period  that  followed 
1764,  yet  I  find  no  evidence  of  radical  departures  from  his 
first  conceptions.  Study  the  topography  of  this  section,  and 
you  will  see  that  he  selected  the  most  commanding  of  its 
conveniently  accessible  sites,  certainly  the  finest  site  on  his 
father's  thirty  thousand  acres.  He  clearly  recognized  in  the 
beginning  the  big  units  in  the  natural  beauty  of  the  site,  the 

C  110  H 


Monticello:  Entrance  to  Main  Hall  from  North  Portico 


Yw i  Y  i\Y\o 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

relation  that  the  house,  its  approaches,  and  the  outdoor 
compartments  about  it  should  bear  to  this  beauty,  as  well 
as  to  the  convenience  and  comfort  of  his  family  and  his 
visitors. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  these  landscape  units  was 
"  the  valley  five  hundred  feet  deep,"  the  Charlottesville  Valley, 
his  "  sublime  workhouse  of  Nature."  It  was  here  that  the 
site  of  the  University  of  Virginia  was  officially  located  Au 
gust  i,  1818,  on  a  ridge,  where  the  College  Trustees  had 
directed  on  May  5,  1817,  that  the  first  building  should  be 
erected.  The  beauty  of  this  valley  had  so  appealed  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  his  conception  of  the  relation  of  building  to 
landscape  was  so  broad,  that  he  must  have  had  definitely  in 
mind,  during  all  these  constructive  years,  the  visual  connec 
tion  between  his  first  love  "  Monticello  "  and  the  University, 
of  which  he  expressed  his  desire  to  be  called  the  father,  in  the 
epitaph  which  he  wrote.  At  his  home  the  westerly  slope  below 
the  house  and  its  south  lawn  were  cleared  of  trees  and  laid 
in  grass.  This  gave  an  unobstructed  view  of  the  University. 
On  that  side  of  the  University  ridge  that  faced  Monticello, 
the  outbuildings  and  the  ranges  were  stepped  down  the  slope 
to  give  views  over  their  tops  down  into  the  valley  and  up  to 
Monticello  from  the  professors'  quarters  in  the  second  story 
of  the  pavilion  on  the  East  Lawn,  as  well  as  from  the  stu 
dents'  quarters  in  the  East  Range.  This  arrangement  pre- 

C    H3   3 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

sented  the  most  effective  architectural  grouping  to  Jefferson 
and  his  friends  as  they  looked  down  into  the  valley  and  to 
the  College  group  from  the  home. 

THE    UNIVERSITY 

In  the  design  of  the  College,  Mr.  Jefferson  had  the  benefit 
of  foreign  travel  and  the  intercourse  with  distinguished  men 
and  women  that  his  position  as  Ambassador  to  France  and  as 
President  of  this  United  States  gave  him,  advantages  that  had 
not  come  to  him  when  he  conceived  Monticello's  plan.  This 
intercourse  and  his  study  of  this  plan  gave  rise  to  expres 
sions  that  represented  his  appreciation  of  landscape  and  its 
place  in  design  that  I  have  referred  to  at  the  outset.  While 
this  intercourse  aided  him  in  the  development  of  his  Univer 
sity  plan,  it  did  not  impair  his  originality  of  thought  or  inde 
pendence  of  action,  or  his  power  of  adapting  the  conceptions 
of  others  to  his  special  problems  without  making  servile 
copies.  Not  only  was  this  true  in  the  units  of  his  plan,  but 
also  in  his  terms  of  identification,  such  as  "The  Lawns," 
"The  Ranges,"  "The  Pavilions." 

In  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  of  September  7,  1814,  to  Peter 
Carr,  he  states  that  "  In  his  acquaintance  with  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  seminaries  of  other  countries  and  with  the  opin 
ions  of  the  most  enlightened  individuals  he  found  no  two 
alike,  each  being  adapted  to  the  condition  of  the  section  or 

L  114  ] 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

society  for  which  they  have  been  framed.  No  one  could  be 
adopted  without  change  in  our  country." 

His  statement  of  April  2,  1821,  with  many  reasons  why 
a  "  Village  form  is  preferable  to  a  single  great  building," 
forecasts  a  plan  which  Mr.  Herbert  B.  Adams  refers  to  as 
the  "  modern  adaptation  of  the  mediaeval  idea  of  cloistered 
retreats,  with  colonnades  and  quadrangles,  the  latter  opening 
toward  the  south." 

May  5,  1817,  the  Trustees  directed  the  erection  of  build 
ings  in  accordance  with  a  plan  presented  "  for  buildings 
about  a  square."  Four  days  later  Mr.  Jefferson  delineated 
his  connected  pavilions  and  dormitories  on  three  sides  of  a 
"square"  opening  south,  "with  trees  and  grass,"  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  William  Thornton.  This  letter  is  reproduced  in  Dr. 
Lambeth's  chapter.  On  January  6,  1818,  the  Trustees  de 
scribed  the  purchase  of  land  "  high,  dry,  open,  and  furnished 
with  water,"  and  a  plan  which  provided  for  adding  to  the 
buildings  "indefinitely  hereafter,"  "the  whole  in  form  and 
effect"  to  have  "the  character  of  an  academical  village." 

On  August  i,  1818,  a  legislative  commission  meeting  at 
Rock  Fish  Gap  in  the  Blue  Ridge  approved  the  site  and  the 
plans,  with  the  knowledge  that  "one  pavilion  and  its  appen 
dix  of  dormitories  "  were  far  advanced  and  another  under 
way,  and  that  the  one  hundred  and  fifty- three  acres  of  land 
that  were  added  to  the  original  forty-seven  acres  included 

c »'« : 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

"a  considerable  eminence"  for  the  erection  of  a  future  ob 
servatory.  This  observatory  Mr.  Leander  McCormick,  of 
Chicago,  did  erect  in  1880-81. 

Referring  again  to  the  reproductions  in  Dr.  Lambeth's 
chapters,  it  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  first 
plan  located  the  ranges  (dormitories)  close  to  the  rear  of 
the  lawn,  class-room  and  professors'  homes  ( pavilions ),  with 
gardens  at  the  back  of  the  ranges,  and  then  ingeniously  re 
versed  the  gardens  on  his  plan  to  bring  them  between  the 
ranges  and  lawns  by  cutting  out  and  reversing  a  part  of  his 
drawing.  This  last  arrangement  permitted  a  direct  access  by 
stairs  to  the  gardens  from  the  professors'  homes  in  the  sec 
ond  story  of  the  pavilions  which  were  included  in  one  plan 
and  partly  built,  as  indicated  by  Dr.  Lambeth.  The  service 
road  and  yard,  used  in  common  by  two  pavilions,  were  shut 
off  from  the  gardens  by  the  serpentine  walls.  Thus  you  will 
see  he  provided  a  secluded  outdoor  compartment  for  profes 
sors'  families  that  corresponded  to  his  Monticello  south  lawn. 

Regarding  these  changes,  Mr.  J.  C.  Cabel,  who  was  Mr. 
Jefferson's  most  helpful  legislative  co-worker,  but  whose 
criticism  on  the  style  and  constructions  of  buildings  were 
generally  not  accepted,  says,  "  I  was  extremely  happy  to  be 
informed  by  General  Cocke  that  you  had  annexed  the  gar 
dens  to  the  back  yards  of  the  pavilions." 

In  locating  the  group  of  buildings,  Mr.  Jefferson  so  fixed 

C  1'6  3 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

the  main  axis  line  of  his  quadrangle  that  the  southerly  view 
to  the  court  was  over  a  rather  precipitous  narrow  valley  run 
ning  across  the  axis  line  with  a  narrow  ridge  beyond,  and 
then  at  some  distance  a  high  hill  view,  really  a  fine  outlook. 
I  find  no  evidence  that  it  ever  was  Mr.  Jefferson's  intent  to 
close  up  this  view  and  this  "opening  south."  Apparently  the 
indefinite  extensions  he  had  in  view  at  that  time  were  to  be 
continuations  of  the  lawns  and  the  ranges.  The  erection  of  a 
modern  building  across  this  southerly  end  has  shut  out  the 
view  from  the  lawn,  but  not  much  of  the  light.  This  work 
is  so  well  done,  however,  that  it  will  always  remain  as  a 
worthy  monument  to  the  skill  of  the  designer,  Stanford 
White. 

The  rotunda  also  was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  valley,  run 
ning  with  the  axis  line,  and  through  which  a  most  effective 
view  of  this  structure  was  to  be  obtained  from  uplands  a  third 
of  a  mile  to  the  north. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  orientation  of  the  quadrangle 
was  made  to  take  advantage  of  the  steep  slopes  and  valleys 
in  making  both  outlook  and  inlook  to  landscapes  and  build 
ings  more  effective,  in  the  same  manner  that  similar  situations 
were  taken  advantage  of  at  Monticello  at  the  fine  view  on  the 
road  up,  as  well  as  in  the  location  of  the  house.  That  this  was 
a  result  of  a  study  of  his  landscape  and  topography  is  made 
evident  by  the  fact  that  he  did  not  follow  the  line  of  least 

C  H7  H 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

resistance  or  the  exact  north  and  south  line.  That  he  regarded 
the  lines  thus  established  as  essential  elements  of  his  design 
is  indicated  by  his  refusal  to  accept  the  recommendation  of 
Mr.  A.  C.  Brockenbrough,  his  superintendent  of  construction, 
who  wrote  May  i,  1820,  that  adherence  to  the  plan  would 
require  at  "Hotel  A"  of  the  West  Range  a  "bank  7  feet 
high  and  then  the  cellar  to  dig  out ;  in  order  to  save  some 
labor  I  propose  advancing  the  building  a  few  feet  in  the 
street  and  then  throwing  the  street  more  to  the  east." 

With  these  references  to  the  landscape  phases  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  design  and  a  previous  reference  to  his  stepping 
down  the  building  on  the  Monticello  side  of  the  slope,  I 
would  have  you  read  Dr.  Lambeth's  statement  regarding  the 
false  perspective  which  he  so  skillfully  developed  in  his  view 
from  the  rotunda  between  the  connected  pavilions  of  the 
East  and  West  Lawns  toward  the  view  that  he  had  retained 
by  keeping  his  "opening  south." 

Some  of  the  circumstances  attending  the  location  and  con 
struction  of  the  University,  showing  Mr.  Jefferson's  respon 
sibility  for  the  minutest  detail,  will  be  of  interest. 

You  will  observe  Dr.  Lambeth's  reproduction  of  the  orig 
inal  survey  notes  made  about  the  time  the  buildings  were  lo 
cated,  and  Mr.  Jefferson's  footnotes  on  discrepancies  thereon. 

Captain  Bacon  states  that  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  the  deed 
himself  for  the  first  purchase  of  forty-seven  acres,  which 

C  118  ] 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

Captain  Bacon  says  "  was  a  poor  old  turned-out  field,  finely 
situated."  He  also  states  that  Mr.  Jefferson  negotiated  the 
second  purchase  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  acres  on  the 
"considerable  eminence"  having  "much  fine  timber  and 
rock  used  in  building  the  University."  These  two  hundred 
acres  cost  $1518.75. 

From  Mr.  Tucker's  "  Life  of  Jefferson  "  (1837)  comes 
the  statement  that  from  the  spring  of  1819,  Mr.  Jefferson 
procured  the  different  workmen  and  superintended  the  build 
ing  of  the  University.  "  He  not  only  formed  a  general  plan 
of  the  buildings,  but  drafts  of  every  subordinate  part  were 
made  by  him."  Captain  Bacon  describes  minutely  the  event 
of  Mr.  Jefferson's  laying  out  the  entire  foundation  of  the 
University  with  rule,  pegs,  and  twine,  and  then  immediately 
setting  at  work  upon  it  the  ten  men  assembled  for  the  pur 
pose.  He  also  described  Mr.  Jefferson's  almost  daily  visits 
of  inspection  regardless  of  storms  or  company,  and  his  rigid 
rejection  of  poor  materials.  He  refers  also  to  the  great  time 
and  the  crowds  that  were  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone 
by  President  James  Monroe,  who  was  a  Trustee,  as  were 
Presidents  Madison  and  Jefferson,  both  being  at  this  cere 
mony  on  October  6,  1817. 

It  is  quite  obvious  that  Mr.  Jefferson's  interest  in  gardens 
and  lawns  was  quite  as  great  as  it  was  in  the  buildings,  and 
that  he  intended  to  have  tree  plantations  made,  as  indicated 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

by  his  description  of  his  square  "opening  south,  with  trees 
and  grass."  The  work  on  the  gardens  and  lawns  went  on 
with  the  building,  the  cost  of  back  yards  and  gardens  being 
up  to  1821  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  In  1822  he  refers  to  the 
pavilions  with  their  gardens,  to  the  garden  walls  and  parts 
of  the  grounds,  and  on  October  26,  1823,  he  reports,  "the 
garden  walls  are  finished,  the  lawn  is  graded." 

While  we  know  that  Mr.  Jefferson  made  and  executed 
his  own  landscape  planting  studies  at  Monticello  and  intended 
to  have  trees  on  the  lawns  at  the  University,  as  stated  above, 
I  do  not  find  that  any  trees  were  planted  under  his  personal 
direction  or  in  accordance  with  any  planting  plan  he  may 
have  made.  The  only  record  I  have  of  tree  planting  is  that 
the  original  trees  of  the  two  rows  on  the  lawn  were  planted 
in  1 840,  the  present  red  maples  and  ash  about  1 860.  Other 
trees  about  the  grounds  were  evidently  planted  at  various 
times  without  proper  consideration,  for  they  almost  wholly 
hide  the  buildings  from  every  viewpoint. 

Mr.  Jefferson  did,  however,  have  definite  plans  for  the 
creation  of  an  arboretum,  and  in  the  preparation  of  this  he 
was  assisted  by  the  Abbe  Corriea  de  Serra.  On  April  1 7, 
1826,  tw7o  months  before  his  death,  he  sent  Professor  Emmet 
a  detailed  plan  of  six  acres,  which  included,  as  he  states,  the 
extent  of  ground  to  be  employed,  the  number  and  character 
of  plants  to  be  introduced  on  it,  "restrained  altogether  to 

[    120    ] 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

objects  of  use  and  indulging  not  at  all  in  things  of  mere 
curiosity,  and  especially  not  yet  thinking  of  a  hothouse,  or 
even  a  greenhouse."  After  having  "diligently  examined  all 
our  grounds"  as  to  the  "circumstances  of  soil,  water,  and 
distance,"  Jefferson  recommended  a  place  on  "the  public 
road  at  the  upper  corner  of  our  possessions  where  the  stream 
issues  from  them,"  a  trapezoid  one  hundred  and  seventy 
yards  square,  the  breadth  of  which  would  take  "all  the 
ground  between  the  road  and  the  dam  of  the  brick  ponds,  ex 
tending  eastwardly  up  the  hill,  —  the  bottom  ground  for  gar 
den  plants  ( four  acres ) ,  the  hillsides  for  the  trees  ( two  acres ) . 
He  would  inclose  the  ground  with  a  serpentine  wall  seven 
feet  high  (eighty  thousand  bricks  for  eight  hundred  dollars), 
or  for  a  while  posts  and  rails.  He  would  form  all  the  hill 
side  into  level  terraces  curving  with  the  hill,  and  the  level 
ground  into  beds  and  alleys.  Lastly,  he  would  secure  a  gar 
dener  with  sufficient  skill.  His  source  of  seeds  would  be  "our 
seed  ships,  English  gardens  and  seed  shops,  our  ministers 
and  consuls,"  and  especially  "my  good  old  friend  Thouin," 
of  the  Garden  of  Plants  at  Paris,  who  for  twenty-three  years 
had  regularly  sent  him  a  box  of  exotic  seeds  which,  he 
writes,  "  I  regularly  sent  to  the  public  and  private  gardens 
of  the  other  states."  He  refers  also  to  securing  seed  from  a 
larch  tree  at  Monticello,  and  from  a  marronnier  or  cork  oak 
tree  at  Mount  Vernon. 


Jefferson  as  a  Designer  of  Landscapes 

Mr.  Jefferson's  biographers  have  not  touched  upon  his 
broad  conception  of  landscape  which  I  have  endeavored  to 
make  clear,  wherein  buildings  are  considered  as  important 
incidents  in  a  landscape  to  be  definitely  and  accurately  co-re 
lated  to  it.  The  importance  of  this  co-relation  is  coming  to 
be  more  and  more  clearly  recognized  to-day,  because  that 
profession  that  designs  and  constructs  landscapes,  and  ar 
ranges  for  the  location  of  buildings  and  arrangement  of 
grounds,  is  securing  year  by  year  more  effective  results  in 
cooperation  with  that  profession  that  designs  and  constructs 
buildings. 

If  this  chapter  will  help  more  definitely  to  differentiate  the 
responsibilities  of  these  professions  in  the  public  mind,  then 
it  is  well  that  it  should  have  been  written. 


THE    END 


Plates  Illustrating  the  Text 


PLATE  I.  Plan  of  Bremo,  showing  moat  around  front  of  lawn,  and  the 
parapet  wall  separating  front  from  rear  lawn,  at  the  same  time 
connecting  the  end  pavilions  with  the  main  building. 


PLATE  II.   Principal  floor  plan  of  Monticello. 


PLATE  III.  Part  of  a  letter  from  Jefferson  to  President  of  Literary  Fund, 
showing  how  he  attempted  to  carve  his  capital  from  native 
stone. 


V 

J 


v 

r 


PLATE  IV.  First  lay-out  of  the  University  group  adopted  by  the  trustees 
May  5,  1817,  together  with  specifications  and  estimate,  for  the 
first  pavilion,  which  Jefferson  placed  on  the  reverse  side  of  the 
same  sheet. 


'^^^s^  \ 


1/njL  l'**'*~£**~*-t  f***vl~ 
t£*-jl-Xft-r  «,/ 

'•4 


PLATE  V.  The  upper  half  of  the  cut  shows  an  elevation  of  the  first  story  of 
the  first  pavilion.  The  Tuscan  arches  on  which  Jefferson  super 
imposed  his  doric  of  Palladio.  The  lower  half  shows  the  plan  of 
the  first  pavilion,  with  its  side  entrance  for  the  Professor's  house 
hold,  also  showing  the  plan  of  adjacent  dormitories,  with  the 
Tuscan  arcade  in  front  of  them. 


PLATE  VI.  A  page  of  Jefferson's  pocket  notebook  containing  notes  for 
his  first  pavilion  or  the  dormitories  and  Tuscan  colonnade 
attached  thereto. 


/** 


>'  =  .iu 


3      -        .?9<) 
3  T.  =       .< 


-    3.333 


2/i.    =    ^.390 
2.^"  =^    6.933 

3-7  -    7- '99 

30      ^   C.  XXBj 


60    = 


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PLATE  VII.  University  of  Virginia.  A  page  from  Jefferson's  pocket  note 
book  showing  his  plan  for  adapting  the  ceiling  of  his  rotunda 
to  the  purpose  of  teaching  astronomy. 


PLATE  VIII.  First  plan  of  the  double  ranges  of  buildings  showing  how 
Jefferson  cut  out  with  his  pen-knife  the  piece  which  contained 
West  Range  facing  the  lawn.  In  this  plate  the  original  piece 
is  replaced. 


.  i     ;  wsr^yi-ij-g^fc^-irvigr^ .  ^ 

"t ' 


PLATE  IX.  The  same  original  plan  with  the  piece  of  paper  laid  in  place 
containing  the  revision  —  the  new  range  now  facing  away  from 
the  lawn. 


"'""^r:::'?^-- 


PLATE  X.  One  of  Jefferson's  detail  drawings  for  the  railing  above  his  Tus 
can  arcade. 


PLATE  XI.  Jefferson's  specifications  for  marble  capitals  he  is  ordering  through 
Thomas  Appleton  at  Sivorno,  Italy. 


e,  e^S   f*vm  ^  '  cv.  /.jK^/vtu/K  fi*-***£,  etf  ^U^ 

--  i-CJLeJt*vbu  flit-  6y>-uruf/uc'&/u  c6f^1*tj)a.*t<JxJa  J~ 

X/V/    X^W1;  (L0U/litrH  f*uA4  .  tvi  2o-n-dct\   /  7  3L/  . 
fe.   CoTTAJ^vc^vn  t-&fn]teJLd  Ayr  d^w^-rvn^ 

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f  oi  <^*m  /nj 
tXv  fA-t^^  /L^ 

ATI/-  /X 


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tfyiAuic 

- 


PLATE  XII.  Specifications  of  another  capital  which  Jefferson  is  ordering 
from  Appleton,  containing  a  criticism  of  those  previously  sup 
plied. 


n< 


h-n.c_*^  to-t.  cx 

<*    ^SkjjKjvr-  L*  •^jrf  fk^fr\    /• 


L.(Mje.-tt<, 

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HJL 


2. 


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PLATE  XIII.  University  of  Virginia.  First  page  of  Jefferson's  pocket  note 
book  showing  data  for  July  18,  1817,  the  day  on  which  he 
staked  out  his  plan ;  also  additional  notes  concerning  compass 
reading  added  about  two  years  later,  Dec.  7th,  1819. 


.'t«.'4^, 


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5.  - 


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ar/r/^|        ^*i-H^/^-t  .  .  /i.  .  .  .  ..£,, 

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PLATE  XIV.   Part  of  specification  for  Rotunda,  showing  method  of  reduc 
tion  after  the  Pantheon. 


-  -  -  fs     -  , 

>k»p     »«i  -  -  .  ,  . .9.    1-  73- 

Jurv&U*       ^9       -      -      -      -    J-O)  

' 


*/»«..  fc/f^n-AU.    ,<»' 


PLATE  XV.  Section  of  Library  or  Rotunda. 


rr~  ~~~^'rr~r** ''*#-$"} 


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PLATE  XVI.  Plan  of  first  and  second  floor  of  Library  or  Rotunda. 


PLATE  XVII.  Elevation  of  Library  or  Rotunda. 


PLATE  XVIII.  Specification  for  the  domed  roof  of  the  Rotunda. 


for  /<-_  A 


To 


7  . 


A. 


PLATE  XIX.  Specification  for  pavilion  X,  illustrating  Jefferson's  method 
of  determining  his  attic  pilaster,  also  representing  the  only 
time  in  the  entire  set  of  records  when  the  personal  pronoun 
I  occurs  —  using  it  to  acknowledge  a  personal  limitation. 


PLATE  XX.  University  of  Virginia.  One  of  Jefferson's  plans  for  an  ob 
servatory  which  he  later  condemned.  (The  specifications  for 
the  building  are  written  on  the  back  and  are  printed  in  this 
text.) 


w. 


e     o 


PLATE  XXI.  University  of  Virginia.  Jefferson's  sketch  for  a  bell  which 
would  ring  the  hours  automatically  and  yet  permit  of  being 
rung  independently. 


V 


\ 


^ 


\ 


PLATE  XXII.  University  of  Virginia :  plan  of  existing  conditions. 


UMVCRSITY   OF   VIRGI/NIA 

C  HAR.L.  OT--rE.5VIL.UE:  -VA. 

PL A/N  OF  EXISTING  CO/SDITIO^S 

.SCALE.  1  IMCH  =J5OO  F•EE:'r 


DOSTOTI,  MASS. 


LANDSCAPE.  DESIGNE.R. 

MARCH  11,1913 
760-34 


Original  buildings  designed  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  erected  under 
his  supervision  shown  cross-hatched. 

Names  in  parentheses  given  by  Jefferson 

1.  (The   Rotunda)  used  as  a  library. 

2.  Harrison.    (Pavilion  11   Ionic  of 
Fortuna  Virilis.) 

3.  Administration  Building.  < 
(Pavilion  IV  Doric  of 
Albano.) 

4.  Graves.    (Pavilion 
VI  Theatre  of 
Marcellus' 
Ionic.) 


J.   Echols. 

(Pavilion  VI  ll 
Diocletian's 
Baths'  Corinthian.) 

6.  Lile.    (Pavilion  X 
Theatre  of  Marcellus' 
Doric.) 

7.  Fitzhugh.   (Pavilion 
IX  Ionic  from  Fortuna 
Virilis.    Niched  Doorway 
from  Latrobe.) 

8.  Colonnade.    (Pavilion 
VII  Palladian  Doric.) 

9.  Kent.    (Pavilion  V  Palla 
dian  Ionic  with  Modillions.) 

10.  Minor.    (Pavilion  III  Palladian 
Corinthian.) 

11.  Tuttle.   Pavilion  I  Doric 
of  Diocletian's  Baths.) 

12.  (West  Range.)  21.   Brooks  Museum. 

13.  (East  Range.)  22.   Hospital. 

14.  Physiological  Laboratory  .(HotelA.)  23.   Randall  Hall. 

15.  Medical  Hall.  24.   Physical  Laboratory. 

16.  Anatomy  Hall.  25.   Cabell  Hall. 

17.  Chemical  Laboratory  26.   Mechanical  Laboratory. 

18.  Chapel.  27.   Commons. 

19.  Gymnasium.  28.  Law  Building. 
1O.  Madison  Hall  Y.M.C.A.  29.   Dawson's  Row. 


;o.  Monroe  Hill. 

}I.  Varsity  Athletic  Field. 

32.  Practice  Field. 

33.  President's  Mansion. 


PLATE  XXIII.   University  of  Virginia :  study  for  development. 


UMVERSITY  OF   VIRGINIA 

Cf-IAD.l_0  TT  E.SVIL.  L  E.       VA 

STUDY  F°a  DEVELOPMENT 

1  irtCH  ~5OOrE.E.T 


WAE.E.EIN  H. 

Bosxo/i,  MASS. 


LA/IDS  c  APE. 

MAR.CH  n. 
760-83 
Ex  i  STING  Buu-Dinas    •§       PaopoatB  BUIUJIHGS 


BOBB 
BBSB 
BBBB 


IV  E.DOCAT1OWA1-    &B.OCIP 


VTDOE.MTTOB.V     AND  FXCULTV  GROUP 
ostD  E.OAD  TO    ST/VTIQM 


CAMBRIDGE  •  MASSACHUSETTS 
U   •    S   •   A 


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